The previous book in the series, When Will There Be Good News?, was so bleak that I must have been putting off reading this one, though it's nearly 5 years since I bought my copy. I'm sorry I didn't read it sooner. This is a multi-threaded story of lost, stolen, and trafficked children, of mothers killed, deliberately or recklessly, and of police who fail (sometimes culpably, sometimes not) to protect the vulnerable. One four-year-old, in particular, suffers an unimaginably horrible experience. Atkinson is a wonderful plotter and she weaves the strands of her tale into a solid fabric which leaves the reader not just satisfied but even, in spite of everything, a little bit hopeful.
Originally posted on Google+ by Art on 19-Jun-2017