Without a Trace
By Malcolm Forsythe
Without a Trace is the first book in the highly popular DCI Milson and DS Scobie series.
Eight-year-old Maisie Brown disappears during Tanniford’s annual fête. Chief Inspector Millson suspects Maisie’s stepfather. Millson dislikes stepfathers. His own daughter has one and he resents having to arrange with him when he can see her.
Tanniford lies in the bend of a river, confined there by the railway line. The only road out is over the railway bridge. The local police had closed the road to traffic while the fête was on, and no vehicle left the village between two and six. This convinces Millson that Maisie was abducted by someone in the village. And that she’s still there — dead or alive. The villagers believe a stranger has taken her.
In a way, they are both right.
A gripping and intriguing tale, Without a Trace will please existing fans of the Milson/Scobie series and readers who enjoy British police procedurals.