The Isles of Scilly are twenty-five miles from Cornwall. The five islands are the furthest east and south in the UK and the scene of this excellent, but disturbing, police procedural. Ben is the deputy chief who, while on the uninhabited St. Helen’s, discovers the buried body of a teenaged girl suffering from extreme malnutrition and possibly scurvy. The following day, a weeks-old newborn is left on the steps of the police station. How does this happen in a small set of communities where everyone knows everyone else? Because smuggling has been part of the isles’ history for centuries, Ben wonders whether large international traffickers are behind the crime. The ME confirms that the dead girl was underground for years, and the local doctor advises that the baby is related to the young girl. Ben concludes that somewhere in his jurisdiction, a young woman has been imprisoned for the purpose of ongoing rape. He organizes the town, begins searching every house, checks every basement, and feels as if he’s making progress. Confirmation comes when someone takes his year-old son, Noah. A frantic search ensues, and the killer/rapist is jailed, and all of the innocents are well. This is an excellent book, and I’m delighted to see there are seven others in the series.
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