This book could have been considerably shorter and edited a bit more and would have been a very suspenseful and fast paced story. Instead it’s a very slow paced and clunky mystery, mainly to the ‘true accounting’ conceit at the start of the book.

13 year old Alison Carter has gone missing from the small English village of Scardale in 1963. Several other children from surrounding villages have also disappeared, and not been found, adding to the mystery.

Her story is told in three parts
1.) A young and newly promoted Detective Inspector is consumed by the case, and working with his partner solves the mystery of her disappearance.

2.) A trial ensues, in which the entire case is rehashed, with almost every step of the investigation retold.

3.) Thirty five years later an investigative journalist decides to write the story of Alison Carter with the cooperation of the Detective Inspector who worked the case. Just as the book is to be published the Detective refuses to allow the publication of the book, as new information has been discovered; information he refuses to speak about.

The book could have done without the entire second part, and this would have sped up the pace of the story. The book seemed at times over descriptive. A series of coincidences that are hard to believe also bring the story down a notch.

There are several things I did like in this book. There is a very gothic and claustrophobic feeling about the village of Scardale. I also liked the characters of the two detectives, George Bennett and Tommy Clough and the procedural aspects of the police work, and these things did make the book a worth while read. However I did figure out the ‘mystery’ almost from the start, and was not as surprised at the ‘twist’ ending as I suppose the author thought I should be. I will probably give McDermid another go, hopefully with better results.

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well-written, complex, eerie mystery from one of the masters of the genre. A young girl
disappears from an isolated village--based on a true story

fantastic read
well written by a British journalist
loosely based on a true serial murder in the Uk in the 60's
worth reading for the details!

good reading condition wear on spine of book, name in front of book

A strong but often boring book. Storyline was great, ending was superb...but I found myself bored with some of the longer sections...but I'm not overly found of british countryside & rural stories to begin with! With that said, I read the entire book and the ending really raised my evaluation. Stick with it and you'll also view it well.

An excellent book by one of Britain's best mystery writers.

On a freezing day in December 1963, thirteen-year-old Alison Carter vanishes from her village. Nothing will ever be the same again for the inhabitants of the isolated hamlet in the English countryside. A young George Bennett, a newly-promoted inspector, he is determined to solve this case—even if it just to bring home a daughter's dead body to her mother.
As days progress, the likelihood that Alison has been murdered increases when a gruesome discovery is made in a cave. But with no corpse, the barest of clues, and an investigation that turns up more questions than answers, Bennett finds himself up against a stone wall...until he learns the shocking truth—a truth that will have far-reaching consequences.

Decades later, Bennett finally tells his story to journalist Catherine Heathcote. But just when the book is posed for publication, he pulls the plug on it without explanation. He has new information that he will not divulge. Refusing to let the past remain a mystery, Catherine sets out to uncover what really happened to Alison Carter. But the secret is one she might wish she'd left buried on that cold, dark day thirty-five years ago.

An excellent read - fast paced, with lots of twists.

On a freezing day in Dec. 1963, a teenager vanishes from her village. Newly promoted Inspector George Bennett is determined to solve the case.

A 13 yr old vanishes from her remote English village. Has she been murdered, and by who? Great mystery.

Long, complex, intricate, satisfying novel. Apparently based on a real crime. I've read a couple of Val McDermid's novels, but this one is my favorite.

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