Judith L. (jlautner) reviewed on 1/11/2021 + 106 more book reviews

One of Rendell's more complex plots, that in some ways seem simple. Actually, there are overlapping investigations, which serve to complicate the lives of our investigators significantly.

The first case is of the missing girl. A young girl is abducted, gone for three days, and then suddenly returned unharmed. She is reluctant to disclose much of what happened to her. Then it happens again, to another girl, who ultimately reveals some of her experience, and the two cases are linked.

Chief Inspector Wexford is consumed by these cases, while his stalwart associate, Mike Burden, is not. Burden would just as soon move on to other cases, given that the girls were unharmed. But then a three-year-old is abducted.

Wexford and Burden meet the parents: Stephen Devenish, the CEO of an airline company and his submissive wife, Fay. They live in a large house on a large piece of land, where they are effectively insulated from prying eyes. This may be in part why the big secret of their marriage is not well known.

Meanwhile, a sex offender is released from prison and returns home, to a small community where the residents take up the cause of getting rid of him.

All of these situations meld together, with the help of the local weekly, and harm is done. Wexford, Burden, and others on the team track down the answers, but they do not come easily. It's a bit like a mixed drink- shaken AND stirred.

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