The eight-year-old boy had vanished from the car and - as if by slick, sick magic - had been replaced by a note on the steering wheel . . . 'You don't love him'...
At the height of summer a dark shadow falls across Exmoor. Children are being stolen from cars. Each disappearance is marked only by a terse note - a brutal accusation. There are no explanations, no ransom demands... and no hope.
Policeman Jonas Holly faces a precarious journey into the warped mind of the kidnapper if he's to stand any chance of catching him. But - still reeling from a personal tragedy - is Jonas really up to the task?
Because there's at least one person on Exmoor who thinks that, when it comes to being the first line of defence, Jonas Holly may be the last man to trust...
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She's a thriller queen... The woman most likely to lead the fightback against the Scandinavian crime-wave - Sunday Times (Culture)
One of the leading names in crime fiction - Stylist Magazine
Bauer is not occupied by writing a 'crime story' - although there is a crime at the heart of it - she is more interested in writing a novel - Karin Fossum
The most disturbing new talent around - Val McDermid
Bauer takes astonishing risks but - like a brilliant ski-jumper - arcs down to the perfect landing - Independent
Compelling... Bauer blends a psychological crime story with a darkly humorous narrative... I can't wait for the next one! - Bookseller (Booksellers' Choice)
Belinda Bauer's third book represents a remarkable achievement: almost a return to the good old Victorian triple-decker novel of suspense, but created with a deftness that allows each book to stand alone. - Independent
Surprise, of course, is the most potent aspect of suspense. And Belinda Bauer knows exactly how to manipulate that element, right until the very end. What's more, in three stunning, variously linked novels in just three years, she's shown, not just how to keep surprise bubbling explosively away, but to do it with extraordinary dexterity, maturity and feeling... This is the brilliant end of an outstanding trilogy. - Daily Mirror
Belinda Bauer hit the big time with the excellent Blacklands and continues to explore her theme of West Country cruelty and corruption, balancing the procedural and psychological aspects of crime. It helps to have read the first two volumes in the series, but once again she nails the petty grievances, prejudices and loyalties of village life, and shows how some law enforcers operate at the outer edge of competence. - Financial Times
Bauer has established a reputation for plunging her characters into unimaginable gore. Her third novel easily matches her previous efforts, exposing village bobby Jonas Holly...to events unprecedented in British crime fiction. The British countryside has never appeared so alien or so macabre. - Sunday Times
Finders Keepers has an enjoyably creepy premise... But it's the book's humour that really shines. Bauer reveals her Gold Dagger-winning writing credentials in her neat skewering of everyday pomposities and her wry asides. - Observer
Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa. She has worked as a journalist and screenwriter and her script The Locker Room earned her the Carl Foreman/Bafta Award for Young British Screenwriters. Her debut novel Blacklands earned her the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year. She lives in Wales and is currently working on her next novel.
