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DARKNESS FALLS
by Margaret Murphy
St Martin's Minotaur, June 2004
368 pages
$24.95
ISBN: 0312328516


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Clara Pascal, a successful prosecuting attorney, is driving her young daughter to school with her mind focused on the pending trial of drug lord, Casavettes, whom she is prosecuting. Without warning she is dragged from her car and thrown into a van. Her struggles to escape or to attract attention are futile. Her abductor restrains her and renders her unconscious.

She awakes to find herself chained to a stone wall in a dark and cold cellar. Her abductor never shows his face; never tells her what he wants from her. She is deprived of food, of sleep, of warmth, of light. Her anger at her kidnapper replaces her initial fear for her life, and she tries to bring all her argumentative abilities in focus to keep the unknown man at bay and to help retain her sanity.

The Cheshire police team headed by Detective Inspector Steve Lawson works frantically to find her. There are too few clues to the abduction. Clara's husband is suspected because he seems to be more upset about their daughter's missed birthday party than by Clara's plight. The police must find a reason for the abduction: Was it a revenge by a disgruntled released prisoner who Clara's prosecution had put away? Was it a stalker? Was it the work of drug lord Casavettes in an attempt to circumvent Clara's prosecution?

There have been a series of murders of young women which the police fear will eventually include Clara. But when they apprehend that murderer they find no connection to Clara. It becomes a race against time for both the police and Clara to find the identity of Clara's abductor and thwart his purpose.

This is a well-crafted suspense thriller. The descriptions of the police procedures in recovering kidnap victims is clearly rendered. The tension is effectively heightened by setting the events of Clara's incarceration in the cellar against the painstaking police procedures. The descriptions of her courage and stamina are very moving. The sense of place is great: the reader experiences Clara's cold and hunger; her feelings of humiliation. The dedication of the police, especially that of Detective Inspector Steve Lawson, is to be mentioned with high praise.

This powerful psychological thriller will keep the reader on edge as it reaches an unexpected conclusion. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer, August 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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