Objects of Desire by
C J Emerson
pbk out October 06
(Allison Busby)
at £10.99
Jess Chadwick is a social worker, and has recently moved from London to the
Welsh Marches in an effort to secure a less stressful existence. Some hope!
She has had an unusual past as a successful rock singer/ songwriter,
complete with drugs scene and an unwanted pregnancy. The child was given
up for adoption at birth, which gives an added poignancy to Jess's present
rôle in Child Protection.
Now she leads a solitary existence, finding her job distressing at times, but
nonetheless satisfying - until a child from an earlier case is found murdered,
and a little girl whom she has recently interviewed disappears; these events are just
the tip of a truly sickening paedophile iceberg. Jess, sometimes against the
wishes of her superiors, works with the police to try to unravel exactly what
has happened and who is involved, while at the same time trying to solve
puzzles in her own life. Someone is hacking her website, which is devoted to
the band (Hacksaw by name) she used to sing with, and there's evidence that
someone is physically stalking her.
Enter Gina, the daughter she gave away at birth, who now wants to meet
Jess, although Jess herself is at first ambivalent about this. And interspersed
with the development of the case and Jess's own problems are flashbacks to
1986 when a young fan called Jax inserted herself into Jess's and Hacksaw's
lives.
This is a stunning first novel from CJ Emerson, with an astoundingly original
plot that really defies a brief description. It is awash with sinister or potentially
sinister people, and if there is one criticism it is that Jess is just a little too
trusting. But that is a minor flaw in a very, very good mystery.
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Objects of Desire by
C J Emerson
