LOIS BAXTER IS MISSING

A child goes missing and every parent’s nightmare begins.

Lois Baxter has been snatched from the street on her way home from school, yet her abductor is no stranger to her. Lois calls the abductor Bobby, and it appears this is an adventure they have planned. But we are aware that Bobby has run away from a care home, leaving us to worry about how a young child will fare with the fragile and damaged psyche the abductor presents.

With the police and the new care home manager racing to find Lois and Bobby, there are flashbacks to the care home, where the most vulnerable are not always protected, even from those put there to look after them. The twist-driven plot presents us with a complex yet enticing web of circumstances. As Lois remains missing, carers, parents, powerful local politicians, local criminals and, not least, the abductor, are all under suspicion.

The story is told in the first person, from the abductor’s point of view, keeping the reader ahead of both the police and care home investigations, which are told in the third person. The action takes place over the course of three tense days, with crucial question marks hanging over the whole case. Are Lois’ parents telling the truth? Has the new care home manager bitten off more than she can chew? Is the new DCI up to the job? Will the crime team fully support her? That the key to some of the mystery in Lois’ abduction lies in Bobby’s past, adds to this suspenseful and compulsively readable novel. We are left praying that Lois falls into the right hands and that the worst offenders are caught.

Kitty Fitzgerald is the author of four novels: Pigtopia (2005 Faber & Faber) Small Acts of Treachery (2002 Brandon), Snapdragons (1999 Brandon) and Marge (1985 Sheba). Pigtopia was a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award in the US, and was selected by listeners of BBC Radio 4’s Open Book as a ‘favourite read’. It has been published in nineteen territories to international acclaim. An option for theatrical rights for Pigtopia has recently been concluded with a British production company. Kitty has also written volumes of poetry, as well as radio and stage plays. She was born in Ireland and now lives in a village on the Tyneside coast. Her website is www.kittyfitzgerald.com. Kitty has recently completed a new novel, Lois Baxter is Missing.