WITHOUT A TRACE

DISCOVER A DYNAMIC DETECTIVE DUO SOLVING CRIMES IN THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF ESSEX. YOUR NEXT FAVOURITE BRITISH DETECTIVE SERIES.

PRAISE FOR MALCOLM FORSYTHE:

‘Forsythe carves out retribution with a scalpel.’ The Sunday Times

‘An excellent crime jigsaw.’ Bolton Evening News

‘A feast for readers with a taste for epic theatrics, innuendo, and bodies buried in the garage.’ Kirkus

‘An engrossing pace, a difficult mystery, and a cast of full-bodied characters.’ Booklist

A RACE AGAINST TIME TO FIND A LITTLE GIRL.

Eight-year-old Maisie Brown, a blonde, blue-eyed drum majorette, is kidnapped on the day of Tanniford’s annual fête. One moment she’s there, talking to her friend Vicki, the next she’s gone.

Chief Inspector Millson suspects Maisie’s stepfather. He dislikes stepfathers. His own daughter has one and he resents having to arrange with him when he can see her.

Tanniford lies on the bend of a river. The only road out is over the railway bridge. And the local police had closed that road to traffic during the fête. So no vehicle could have left between two and six.

Therefore — whether or not it was Maisie’s stepfather — Millson is convinced that she was abducted by someone in the village. And that she’s still there — dead or alive.

THE SETTING
From picturesque villages to posh yacht clubs, bustling seaside towns to unspoiled riverside homes, Essex is full of beauty, surprises, and the occasional murder.

THE DETECTIVES
In his late thirties, Detective Chief Inspector George Millson is unhappily divorced with a daughter he doesn’t see enough, especially after his ex–wife remarried and moved to Birmingham. Not the neatest of men, he’s a damn-good detective.

Red-headed Detective Sergeant Norris Scobie is twenty-eight and smartly turned out. He joined George Millson a year ago on transfer from the Met. ‘Don’t ever call me guv’nor!’ Millson had bellowed on their first day together. ‘Schools and prisons have governors.’

MILLSON AND SCOBIE BOOKS
1. WITHOUT A TRACE
2. A COUSIN REMOVED
3. THE BOOK LADY
4. A FATAL REUNION
5. DEATH OF A SECRETARY
6. ONLY LIVING WITNESS
7. LAST KNOWN ADDRESS