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Holy Snap!

1998 �� Three young children sit in a broken-down car on the side of the road, waiting for their pregnant mother to return from the phone box. She doesn’t come back.

2001 �� Home alone, heavily pregnant, Catherine, awakens to a noise, and heads downstairs to investigate. She spies a shadowy figure sneaking away across the lawn. Relieved to have thwarted an attempted burglary she returns to her bedroom, where to her horror she finds a knife on her bed, along with a note ‘I could have killed you��. Meanwhile, police are investigating a string of recent break-ins targeting families, coined the ‘Goldilocks Case��, because the intruder sleeps in the kid’s beds, before stealing their stuff.

How are these seemingly random events all connected you ask? Snap up a copy to find out!

This was a pleasure to read. I'm still reeling from those last two chapters. The mystery unravelled at a slow burn, which could’ve had the potential to be boring, if not for the skilled and ingenious writing, and compelling and passionate characters. I can’t count the number of times I laughed during the course of the novel, which may seem odd given it’s psychological suspense, but it all comes back to the superb writing.

There were so many stand-out characters �� pompous and socially awkward DS Reynolds, gruff, coarse, and at times offensive DCI Marvel, and sassy, quietly-smart PC Rice. The two detectives were polar-opposites, and their interactions were a hoot. And, PC Rice’s good-natured teasing of DS Reynolds, and his feigned disinterest, was another highlight.

The three children also made a lasting impression. Jack, fiercely determined, resourceful, and protective, who just wants to provide for his sisters, and get to the truth of what happened to his mother on that fateful day. Adorable, curious, Merry, with her advanced vocabulary, who endlessly questions everything. And poor darling Joy, so damaged and vulnerable. I wanted to first hug them all, and then adopt them.

The crime was a brutal one, but there were few violent descriptions, or scenes (the worst occurred in the opening chapter when the children stumble across a dead fox). Instead the story focused on the devastating effects of such a crime, and how much it completely destroyed more than one family.

It did get a little bit ‘Home Alone�� at one point, with a kid running rings around the entire police department, rather than a couple of bumbling thieves, but overall a smashing read, not to be missed. I intend to read Belinda Bauer’s previous books, no question. Read it, and make it snappy!