Val McDermid - Place of Execution

review by showhost
Was this a real crime? this story stayed with me even when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about the case - the disappearance, thinking about the evidence.
The place is the Peak District Derbyshire, a small isolated village, where most people are related. when a 13yr old girl goes missing, the villagers grudgingly call in the police. They all believe the girl is dead but they cannot find a body.
This is the year when the headlines in the national papers were of the disappearances of the missing youngsters on the Moors, Pauline Read and John McBride.
The missing girl in Derby, was never found. For DI George Bennett it was his first murder investigation. He was young. The evidence found was enough to convict her step-father, detested squire of the village Phillip Hawkin, without her body.
35 years later a journalist, who used to live in Buxton and went to school with the missing Alison, pursuaded DI George Bennett to break his silence and tell the story. she wants to write a book about the case but just before publication George Bennett requests that the story is never told as some new evidence comes to light.
The story is told with such authenticity, the swinging sixties, the Beatles are alive again. It's a mixture of Heartbeat and Life on Mars (without the humour). Do not read too many reviews as you don't want to spoil the plot - just read it!
It's shocking, addictive and absorbing.
Deservingly Rated On Top 100 Thrillers of All Time Lists
One reviewer said: If you enjoy this book I would suggest you try On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill, which has similar virtues, and is as well written.