Wednesday's Child by Peter Robinson

 

A seven year old girl is missing.  The mother, living with a petty criminal, had opened her door to find a well-dressed couple on the threshold.  They announced that they were from social services and had come to do an inspection.  After they viewed the house, they announced that they needed to take Gemma with them overnight for more testing.  The mother, feeling guilty, allowed them to take her daughter with them.  When they didn't return the next day, she contacted the police.  Alan Banks is given the case but his superior decided to take it on himself.  He had been involved in the Moors Murder and anything involving a kidnapped child hit home with him.

Alan has other work to do.  A man has been found murdered.  He was fresh out of prison and probably involved in the most recent robbery the police were investigating, that of a truckload of electronic equipment.  As Alan and his team investigate, the two cases seem to be converging in some strange way.  Can they solve both cases in time to save Gemma?

This is the sixth box in the Inspector Banks series.  In this one, the sergeant who was transferred to the coast to make room to promote a younger man, comes back to help and tells Alan he wants to return to Eastdale.  The new female inspector has settled in better and the Superintendent is thinking about retirement.  The cases are interesting and the way they are resolved satisfactory.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.