When a Nigerian doctor walks into Kingsmarkham police station reporting his daughter missing, Inspector Wexford expects a routine case. But Melanie Akande vanished weeks ago, and the community's silence — along with the doctor's own evasiveness — suggests something darker at work. As Wexford digs deeper, he uncovers a town riddled with casual racism, buried secrets, and a web of lies that implicates both the powerful and the desperate. Ruth Rendell, the British crime master, delivers a taut psychological mystery that doubles as an unflinching examination of prejudice in 1990s England. This is Wexford at his most dogged and morally clear-eyed, untangling not just a disappearance but the poison that allows it. Perfect for readers who want their mysteries sharp, unsettling, and socially aware.
