When 17-year-old Tracie Reed goes missing
police believe she is just another runaway. Her parents, Donna and Owen, although
in the midst of a divorce, agree. Tracie would not do that. Her former schoolteacher,
Tom Witter also believes something more sinister has happened especially as
Tracie had changed her appearance and felt she was being watched and followed.
Tom is on school holidays. He is supposed
to be dealing with a list of jobs his wife has left for him but when Tracie’s
disappearance is raised at a Neighbourhood Watch meeting Tom is asked to post
photos of Tracie around town.
While the whole affair is another
fascinating topic for town gossip, Tom’s involvement turns into an obsession to
find out what really happened.
Believing some a satanic ritual has occurred
in Wild Place he searches the reserve for clues. Tom tries to convince the police
it is more than a missing person case, but they ignore his theory, so Owen and
Tom take matters into their own hands. Her body is finally found in Wild
Place.
Tom’s investigation puts several people
on his suspect list but most pointedly, Sean, a former best friend of his
eldest son. Sean has turned goth with a passion for heavy metal music. He has a pentagram tattoo with a similar
design to the necklace Tracie wore. He also keeps a snake in his darkened
bedroom. Tom and Owen take matters into their own hands.
It
started slowly as a relaxed read, lulling the reader into a false sense of
relaxation. About halfway through things got more intense as Tom and
Owen’s investigation becomes the main storyline. There are many twists and
turns, with secrets and lies slowly being revealed.
Although it is a murder mystery the focus
is on Tom’s actions, not the police investigation.
It
is an entertaining enough read but not one I call brilliant and after a while
in the second half Tom started to annoy me. The ending certainly came as a shock
but felt a bit rushed.
The
characters are believable; some I am sure I have met while I lived in suburbia.
I
must commend the author on his setting – middle class Australian suburbia. It
brought back memories of 80s music (like it or hate it you can’t forget it), cars,
cassettes, food (Vienetta!), fashion, and more.
My rating 3*
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