Published by Diamond Crime, 4 December
2023. ISBN: 978-1-91564932-4 (PB)
An
elderly man, Jeff Davis, finds the body of a girl in Cathay Cemetery, Cardiff.
Detective Inspector Mandy Wilds and Detective
Sergeant Josh Jones are sent to the scene.
Rishi the pathologist is already there when they
arrive and he tells them she is about sixteen years old and only half dressed,
in spite of the weather being freezing. Prescription pills are found nearby
made out to an Eleri Mathias.
Enquiries lead Mandy and the team to discover the
body is of a Grace Mathias, the prescription was for her mother who is very
ill. Rishi later drops a bombshell, Grace had recently given birth, also there
is no sign of foul play. No one seems to know anything about the baby – where
is it, is it even still alive?
Further inquiries reveal Grace was raising money
for her mother, Eleri to go to America for an operation. However now it is too
late as Eleri is expected to die very soon. Meanwhile at home Mandy has her own problems, Joy
her twin sister has come to live with her. Never an easy person to get on with,
she is pregnant and drives Mandy mad. Joy’s teenage daughter Tabitha already
lives with Mandy and is a delight, unlike her mother. The case of the dead
teenager gives Mandy a good excuse to spend more time at work – she needs to as
the death is very baffling. More than one person must know about Grace’s
pregnancy but even her friends are disbelieving when they are told. So far, no
trace of the baby can be found.
On inspection of Grace’s diary, Mandy and Josh come
across the initials C. R. more than
once, could this stand for the name of the father of the missing baby?
Things get even more hectic at the police station
when news comes in of the disappearance of Amy Johnson, aged thirteen. They are
so busy now Superintendent Withers, Mandy’s boss, brings in Detective Chief
Inspector Lucas Manning. Mandy is flabbergasted, she was once engaged to him
but then he walked out on her. Can things get any more complicated for
Detective Inspector Mandy Wilde? Oh yes!
Somehow through it all she retains her sense of
humour – just. Even at one point happily enlisting the help of local newspaper
reporter Ted Blakeney, a person she usually avoids like the plague.
This is the second book by Jacqueline Harrett that
I have read and enjoyed it every bit as much as the first. I am a great fan of
Detective Inspector Mandy Wilde – every police force should have someone like
her! Really highly recommended. ------ Reviewer: Tricia Chappell
Jacqueline Harrett was born in
Northern Ireland, Jacqui has settled in Cardiff with her husband, a cat with
OCD and a bad-tempered tortoise called Speedy. Her grown up children live close
by and attempt to keep her in check – with varying degrees of success. A former
teacher with a passion for oral storytelling, she has also written books for
teachers and published collections of short fiction in anthologies and online. Jacqui
joins Diamond Crime with a classic police procedural, The Nesting Place,
introducing South Wales detective, D.I. Mandy Wilde.
Tricia Chappell .
I have a great love of books and
reading, especially crime and thrillers. I play the occasional game of
golf (when I am not reading). My great love is cruising especially to far
flung places, when there are long days at sea for plenty more reading! I am
really enjoying reviewing books and have found lots of great new authors.
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