Behind closed doors : a novel

Select an Action

Title:

Behind closed doors : a novel

Author:

Haynes, Elizabeth, 1971- author.

Series:

DCI Louisa Smith ;

Series Number:

Summary:

Ten years ago, Scarlett Rainsford vanished while on a family holiday in Greece. Was she abducted, or did she run away from her severely dysfunctional family? Lou Smith worked the case as a police constable, and failing to find Scarlett has been one of the biggest regrets of her career. No one is more shocked than Lou to learn that Scarlett has unexpectedly been found during a Special Branch raid of a brothel in Briarstone. What happened to her? Where has she been until now? And why is her family less than enthusiastic about her return?

General Note:

"First published in a slightly different format in Great Britain in 2015 by Little Brown"--Title page verso.

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Physical Description:

484 pages ; 21 cm.

Genre:

Thrillers (Fiction)

Subject Term:

Missing persons -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Women detectives -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

England -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Harper,

Publication Date:

2015

ISBN:

9780062276117

Publication Information:

New York : Harper, 2015.

Call Number:

HAYNES

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003078303	Adult Fiction	HAYNES	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

An old case makes Detective Inspector Louisa Smith some new enemies in this spellbinding second installment of New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Haynes's Briarstone crime series that combines literary suspense and page-turning thrills.

Ten years ago, 15-year-old Scarlett Rainsford vanished while on a family holiday in Greece. Was she abducted, or did she run away from her severely dysfunctional family? Lou Smith worked the case as a police constable, and failing to find Scarlett has been one of the biggest regrets of her career. No one is more shocked than Lou to learn that Scarlett has unexpectedly been found during a Special Branch raid of a brothel in Briarstone.

Lou and her Major Crime team are already stretched working two troubling cases: nineteen-year-old Ian Palmer was found badly beaten; and soon after, bar owner Carl McVey was found half-buried in the woods, his Rolex and money gone. While Lou tries to establish the links between the two cases, DS Sam Hollands works with Special Branch to question Scarlett. What happened to her? Where has she been until now? How did she end up back here? And why is her family--with the exception of her emotionally fragile younger sister, Juliette--less than enthusiastic about her return?

When another brutal assault and homicide are linked to the McVey murder, Lou's cases collide, and the clues all point in one terrifying direction. As the pressure and the danger mount, it becomes clear that the silent, secretive Scarlett holds the key to everything.

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

When a teenager goes missing on a family vacation, the usual questions are raised about whether her disappearance may be due to arguments within the family (running away) or having met a stranger (abduction). With the family of the missing girl being rather close-mouthed about their lives, and the knowledge that she didn't have opportunities to go and meet anyone, the assumption is that she ran away. So when she reappears 10 years later during a raid on a brothel, why won't she tell the police what happened in the intervening years? An even bigger question might be why aren't the family members reuniting now? These are the questions that Detective Louisa Smith hopes to answer, but without much help from either Scarlett or her family. The chapters take place in the present day and through flashbacks, and Scarlett's story and the investigation unfold in surprising ways. The hold human traffickers have on their victims can sometimes trump familial ties, particularly if those ties are frayed from the start. The secrets that the family chooses to keep will shock teens. VERDICT A solid choice for fans of darker mysteries, like those of Carol O'Connell or Gillian Flynn.-Laura Pearle, Miss Porter's School, CT © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

In Haynes's harrowing second novel set in the English town of Briarstone (after 2014's Under a Silent Moon), Scarlett Rainsford, who disappeared on a family trip to Greece in 2003 when she was 15, is discovered a decade later during a raid on a brothel, living under an assumed name. The case is particularly vexing for recently promoted Det. Chief Insp. Louisa "Lou" Smith and her Major Crime team, as she worked the original case when Scarlett vanished. As Lou and her fellow officers attempt to determine if the beating of a local ne'er-do-well and the murder of a pub owner are related, Scarlett begins to talk about her ordeal as a prostitute for a European crime ring. When Scarlett vanishes again, Lou must try to find her before the dark forces of her former life can reclaim her. Vivid, unsparing prose, including brutal passages from Scarlett's point of view, helps make this a haunting, highly disturbing mystery. Agent: Adrian Weston, Adrian Weston Literary Agency. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Fifteen-year-old Scarlett Rainsford is abducted while on a family vacation to Greece. For ten years she is shuttled about Europe by traffickers, working as a prostitute and cleaning slave. The police are stumped and the case quickly grows cold. Clues are few, and her seriously dysfunctional family is strangely apathetic. When Scarlett finally does turn up in the Special Branch raid of a brothel in her hometown of Briarstone, Lou Smith and her Major Crimes team pick up the case again, and startling local links are revealed. Gradually Scarlettt begins to open up to young DS Sam Holland and tell her truly terrifying story. Where has she been? How did she end up back home? And why is her younger sister the only one who seems glad to see her? DS Holland and Lou Smith, last seen in Haynes's Into the Darkest Corner, work a tough and very delicate case with skill and tenacity. VERDICT Not for the squeamish, this is a gritty account of the brutality of female trafficking and the pain of child abuse. Haynes pulls no punches telling Scarlett's tale, but the skillful police work and superb ending make the reading truly worthwhile. Mystery readers will want more Haynes! [See Prepub Alert, 9/8/14.]-Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.