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Sam Dean is short of cash when a former flatmate looks him up to ask for some help. He's rather surprised to find himself hired by a Conservative member of parliament to look for a missing daughter, but he's been suggested because they're worried about involving anyone professional, and that secrets might get out. Also, daughter Virginia has a black friend and the Bakers hope Sam might be able to move in circles they can't. This is a fairly common non-professional sleuth scenario, and is followed by an apparent change of mind by the Bakers - they're not sure they need Sam to look for their daughter after all. Sam is not ready to give up, however. For a start, he's spent the money he was given to do the job, and also, he's quite worried by what he's found out and what has happened since he started investigating. I found the story, subject matter and north London setting quite interesting, but had a few quibbles. I thought the author had modelled his hero a little too closely on himself, and tended to use the first person narrative to indulge in a commentary on the state of the nation. I wanted Sam to get off his soapbox and get on with the investigation. In the second half of the story, he picked up the pace a bit and it worked a lot better. Thought provoking and at times rather bleak, a bit self indulgent, politically engaged crime fiction.
Reviewed by Luci Davin, October 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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