Wednesday's child by Peter Robinson
When two polite, well-dressed social workers appear at Brenda Scupham's humble home claiming to be investigating reports of child abuse, she makes every effort to be cooperative. She even complies when Mr. Brown and Miss Peterson say they must take her seven-year-old daughter, Gemma, away for overnight tests. It is only when they fail to return Gemma the following afternoon that Brenda realizes something has gone terribly, unthinkably wrong. As days go by with no sign of the little girl, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe begin to lose hope of finding her alive. At the same time, Banks is investigating a particularly grisly, cold-blooded murder at the site of an abandoned mine. Gradually the leads in the two cases converge, guiding Gristhorpe and Banks to one of the most truly terrifying villains they will ever meet. Editorial Reviews About the Author Peter Robinson is an award-winning author whose novels have been named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, a Notable Book by the New York Times, and a Page Turner of the Week by People magazine. James Langton trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, he has performed many voice-overs and narrated numerous audiobooks. James was born in York, England, and is now based in New York City. --This text refers to the cassette edition. From the Back Cover An exceptional series.-San Diego Union-Tribune It was a crime of ingenious evil: a seven-year-old girl taken from her home by a young couple posing as social workers. Chief Inspector Alan Banks fears for little Gemma Scupham, even as the motive for her kidnapping remains a mystery. No ransom is ever demanded, nor could Gemma's tortured, guilt-ridden mother afford to pay one. And when the body of a young man is discovered in an abandoned mine, slain in a particularly brutal fashion, a disturbing case takes one more sinister twist, drawing Banks into the sordid depths of a malice more terrible and terrifying than anything the seasoned investigator has ever encountered. Utterly suspenseful and compelling, Wednesday's Child will leave readers guessing and on the edge of their seats. Exemplary.-New York Times Book Review --This text refers to the cassette edition. Review A gripping thriller. ---San Diego Union-Tribune --This text refers to the cassette edition. From Kirkus Reviews There's precious little time for Yorkshire Inspector Alan Banks's worries about his distant wife or teenage daughter; he's hot on the trail of the couple, plausibly masquerading as social workers, who took 7-year-old Gemma Scupham away from her slatternly mother. When a family touring the nearby lead mines discovers, not Gemma's body, but that of ex-convict Carl Johnson, the trail seems cold; but after Banks' tense, inconclusive confrontation with Johnson's boss, diamond magnate Adam Harkness, and the disheartening discovery of Gemma's clothing thirty miles away, Constable Susan Gay ties Johnson to Gemma- -and to Jeremy ``Smiler'' Chivers, a grinning psychopath who seems all too good a suspect. Expert lesser work from Robinson (Past Reason Hated, 1993, etc.): an unsurprising but thoroughly accomplished British procedural that puts its lowlife denizens through their paces with all the withering mastery of a lion tamer. -- Copyright ®1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the cassette edition. From Booklist Robinson may be one of the most underrated writers of British mysteries today. His hero, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks, is a thoughtful, intelligent, humane cop who often doubts his ability to cope successfully with the demands of career, marriage, and parenthood. Robinson's descriptions of police procedures are thorough and knowledgeable, and he paints a lively, vivid picture of rural Yorkshire. Best of all, in each successive book, Robinson shows real growth in the complexity of his characters, in his creative, thought-provoking plots, and in the philosophical battles Banks wages in dealing with crime both petty and vicious. Here Banks is investigating the kidnapping of seven-year-old Gemma Scupham, who has been taken from her neglectful mum by two people posing as social workers. It's as if the child had disappeared from the face of the earth; but despite the lack of clues and the daunting possibility that Gemma is already dead, Banks pokes and prods, questions and probes, until the pieces start to fall together and he finds himself confronting one of the most ruthless villains he has encountered in his entire career. Provocative, mesmerizing, and memorable, this chilling story is a must for mystery collections of every size. Emily Melton --This text refers to the cassette edition.
Publication Details
Title:
Author(s):
Illustrator:
Binding: Paperback
Published by: Pan Books: , 2007
Edition:
ISBN: 9780330455459 | 0330455451
340 pages.
Book Condition: Good
Cover worn
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