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Lynn Herron (United Kingdom) (2011/05/08):
Information from back cover of book is given below in italics. Knew nothing about this author and just thought I'd give this book a try. At first glance this is a detective story but actually it is a lot more than a detective story, the role of the detective being just one thread in the whole. Initially I felt the writing (it is a first novel) was slightly awkward. As I went through the book I was at times confused though by the resolution at the end I realised this was the intention of the author all along. Despite my initial response I found this book compulsive reading... Not a great author but one with a gift for an unusual plot and unusual and insightful characterisation too. I'm just off to check if she's written any more and to add them to my wishlist! On a deserted London street late one evening in 1980, a beautiful young woman is brutally killed. When Detective Smallbone is called to the scene he learns that the victim is a model, but otherwise his investigation proves fruitless. The killer left no clues and what's more no one seems to know who the victim really was. But just as the pressure on Smallbone is at its height, the case takes a surprising twist... Away from the crimes of the city, a young autistic boy called Kit is living alone with his mother. Things are difficult at home: men come and go, his mother is secretive, they keep moving house. For Kit the world is unfriendly and strange. Many years later, Kit comes to London, trying to make sense of himself and searching for some answers. His quest leads him to an ageing Detective Smallbone - and the 1980 case of a murdered model...
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