|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
An infants school in Horton reports a man has been sitting in a van, watching children as they leave for the day, worried that he is a paedophile. He is swiftly identified as Joshua Baldwin and warned off by the police. He has no record and there is no indication that he is involved in any abnormal activities. Neither does he have a good explanation for his regular presence at the school. Madeline Wiltshaw is five, and she has a terrible life at the hands of her mother and her partner. Frightened, deprived of food, and physically abused, she wishes a magic man would make her invisible. Leaving school on Good Friday, she disappears without trace, and Joanna Piercy is called to investigate. Baldwin is pulled in immediately for questioning, and the hunt for Madeline in the nearby countryside begins. But England is in the grip of foot and mouth disease, and the neighbouring farmers are reluctant to allow the police access to their land, fearing contamination from other sites. As time passes, and progress on the case is slow or stalling, an ailing Joanna sidelines the strains in her relationship with her partner Matthew. The signs are ominous. The pacing of the plot is excellent; it kept me turning the pages, hoping little Maddy would be found alive, dreading that she wouldn't. The novel is also very strong visually and imparts a firm sense of place and of people. The characters are well drawn and believable, and I will seek out other books in the series, as I'd like to get to know them better, Endangering Innocents is a hard book to put down, but for me it was also a hard book to pick up. Recent cases in the UK, which sadly lend such a feeling of realism to the story, make me uneasy about being entertained by plots featuring missing children. On all counts, it is a compelling but sad tale of our times.
Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, March 2003
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
