Additional information
by Michael Butterworth (Author)
"A neatly contrived nightmare, with the sunny islands and the kindly, sensible policeman cleverly contrasted with the menace surrounding the heroine." --Oxford Mail
For Englishwoman Deborah Tarrant, a vacation in Malta was going to be the perfect way to bond with her mother, but a tragic accident leaves Deborah alone in her grief. Still, the picture-perfect Mediterranean could be just what she needs, especially when a precocious six-year-old boy--neglected by his flirtatious nanny--takes a liking to Deborah.
Spending time with young Alec takes Deborah's mind off her sadness and regret. She even chalks up his tale about a dead body to an overactive imagination. But when Alec and his nanny go missing, Deborah gets drawn into a darker side of the sunlit island--one where happy tourists harbor twisted secrets and drugs are smuggled under cover of the night. Nothing is as it seems as Deborah works with the local police to find Alec and expose the unraveling of the perfect crime . . .
Also published as Vanishing Act
"Smooth, nicely characterized holiday murder mystery with detailed Malta hotel setting." --The Observer
"A first-class thriller, all complete with an imported red herring which should keep its readers in a quandary up to the final chapter." --Morning Star
"A brisk tour of Malta and its customs. The author obviously knows and loves these, and simply in background contrives to draw a more vivid (and far better written) picture than most professional travel writers in a dozen books." --Irish Press
"An ideal thriller in its own way; sun and sea and holidays provide the background for a succinct whodunit." --Books and Bookmen
Author Biography
Michael Butterworth was born in Nottingham in 1924 and served as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy during World War II. After the war, he studied and taught art for some years. He turned from drawing children's comic strips to writing scripts for them, quickly graduating to an editorship. Ten years later, he was an editor of women's magazines. Later, he became a full-time writer, which he did with a pet mongoose on his knee. He also had a hawk, peacocks, swans, a Newfoundland dog the size of a donkey, and many cats. He passed away in 1986.
