No Trace

NO TRACE: Barry Maitland: St. Martin’s Minotaur: Mystery: 320 pgs.

In a London neighborhood known for its artists and bohemian style, six year old Tracey Rudd is abducted from her home. She is the daughter of notorious contemporary artist Gabriel Rudd, best known for the grotesque "Dead Puppies," a work centered around his wife's suicide five years earlier. While Rudd exploits Tracey's abduction as an inspiration for a major new work, D.C.I. David Brock and Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla hunt for the missing girls' kidnapper, who is suspiciously connected to the eccentric community of artists, dealers, and collectors in the neighborhood.

Themes which question the morality and drive of contemporary art were woven with motives and characters in this mystery, which was intriguing for me. The feel of the book reminded me a lot of an episode of Law and Order.

BHG