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For years, a middle-aged, middle-of-the-road couple, Max and Amanda, had enjoyed each other's company in their modest home. With adult children, the two seemed to have everything they could want: health, some wealth, and happiness. Until one day when they vanish, leaving behind no trace. Called in for the case, Detective Inspector George Hennessey, whose own life bespeaks horrible tragedy, automatically suspects foul play. His hunch proves a keen one when the bodies of the missing couple turn up in a shallow grave. But this macabre discovery is only the beginning of a case that will test the mettle of the entire police force. For one thing, no murderer would have killed them for their money since the couple had lost a small fortune right before their deaths; for another, each, apparently unbeknownst to the other, had been involved in an illicit liaison. To top this off, their only son has been acting strangely, and in the midst of the fracas a family secret arises. In search of a road to answers, Hennessey instead finds a maze littered with conflicting clues and misinformation. And instead of lacking any suspects at all, the detective finds there are all too many people who had wished the deceased couple harm.
When a seemingly content middle-aged couple vanishes without a trace, Detective Inspector George Hennessey is thrust into a complex investigation that uncovers layers of hidden betrayal. Hennessey, a man defined by his own past personal tragedies, must navigate a web of misinformation to identify the killer of Max and Amanda. The investigation is complicated by the couple's secret illicit affairs, their sudden financial ruin, and the suspicious behavior of their own son. As the detective peels back the layers of their seemingly ordinary lives, he finds that the motive for their murder is buried deep within a family history of deception.
This work is characterized by the methodical, grounded approach typical of the British police procedural genre. The narrative relies on the slow unraveling of domestic secrets rather than high-octane action, placing the focus squarely on the detective's analytical process. Readers likely find the contrast between the couple's outward appearance of stability and their hidden, illicit lives to be the primary driver of the tension. The inclusion of Hennessey's own tragic background serves to deepen the character study, grounding the procedural elements in a more somber, human context.
Page Count:
224
Publication Date:
1999-01-01
Publisher:
HarperCollins
ISBN-10:
0002326892
ISBN-13:
9780002326896