A gritty tale from the queen of psychological thrillers. Hard hitting social issues meet a tight plot with bags of suspense when an housing estate unleashes its hatred on a suspected paedophile. All of the characters are complex, believable and brilliantly depicted, even those on the margins of the story. She's in a league of her own.
Acid Row. The name the beleaguered inhabitants give to their 'sink' estate.
A no-man's land of single mothers and fatherless children - where angry, alienated youth controls the streets. Into this battleground comes Sophie Morrison, a young doctor visiting a patient in Acid Row. Little does she know that she is entering the home of a known paedophile . . . and with reports circulating that a tormented child called Amy has disappeared, the vigilantes are out in force.
Soon Sophie is trapped at the centre of a terrifying siege, with a man she has come to despise. Whipped to a frenzy by unsubstantiated rumour, the mob unleashes its hatred.
Against authority . . . the law . . . and the 'pervert'. 'Protecting Amy' becomes the catch-all defence for the terrible events that follow. And if murder is part of it, then so be it. BUT IS AMY REALLY MISSING?
Minette Walters is one of the world's bestselling crime writers and has sold over 25 million copies of her books worldwide. She has won the CWA John Creasey Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award in America and two CWA Gold Daggers. The Swift and the Harrier is her third historical novel. She lives in Dorset with her husband.
