Because She Looked Away

Fifteen-year-old Bethany Trent vanishes without a trace from a sunny Cambridge park, and for the next four years her sister Claire holds onto the hope of finding her alive, fighting to keep the case in the public eye. But when Claire inherits her mum's house, she discovers a body in the garden which the police had already searched. After a family tragedy, DI Ronnie Blake reluctantly relocates to Cambridge to live with her brother Alex and nephew Noah. Although she prefers to work alone, she is put in charge of the small but disorderly missing persons' team who first investigated Bethany's disappearance. As Ronnie begins to uncover the clues in the original case notes and the secrets kept by Bethany's family, she realises that the killer is playing a complex and deadly game. Ronnie needs to use her wits and unite her dysfunctional team to discover why Bethany had to die. Praise for Alison Bruce 'Alison Bruce always delivers. Her latest is tense, twisty, terrific' Ian Rankin ' [Alison Bruce] has written a superior thriller, full of suppressed menace' The Times Crime Club 'A powerful and absorbing story that stayed with me long after I'd finished reading. A writer at the top of her game' Elly Griffiths 'Unpredictable, challenging and compelling' Sophie Hannah 'Alison Bruce has long been one of the most adroit crime fiction practitioners in the UK. The Moment Before Impact is . . . her most accomplished outing yet' Barry Forshaw, Financial Time 'As always, Bruce produces a rewarding read' The Times 'I Did It For Us held me from the off. It's compelling, slickly plotted and brilliantly written' Amanda Jennings 'One of our most interesting crime writers' Daily Mail