Creeping Ivy by
Natasha Cooper
pbk out July 99
(Simon Schuster)
at £5.99
This harrowing novel is something of a departure for Natasha Cooper, best known for her Willow King novels. Charlotte, four-year-old daughter of high-profile banker Antonia Weblock, vanishes from a London playground. The shockwaves shatter the lives of her family and friends. There is no evidence that this was an impulse kidnapping by a stranger. Has Charlotte become the victim of a paedophile? And was someone very close to her involved - her nanny or her stepfather, perhaps, both of whom neglected to look after her properly, and both of whom have secrets of their own to conceal? Then there’s the man who might be Charlotte’s biological father, a man desperate for children. Or what about Trish Maguire, a crusading barrister specialising in cases involving children, currently writing a book on child pornography? Trish lies at the centre of this narrative - a strong yet vulnerable woman determined to find out the truth about Charlotte’s disappearance.
CREEPING IVY develops into an ambitious and intelligent crime novel with unusually subtle characterisation, a neatly constructed plot, and enough tension to keep anyone, parent or not, reading until well past bedtime. Nor is this in any way cheaply sensational: the book is fuelled with informed outrage that these things should happen. Highly recommended. More, please.
(
Andrew Taylor
- author of the highly acclaimed Roth & Lydmouth Series)
Creeping Ivy by
Natasha Cooper