Buried by Mark Billingham

 Luke Mullen is only thirteen and he's missing.  His father is a former police officer and he's determined to be front and center in the investigation.  Tom Thorne is heading up the investigation.  Luke was seen getting into a car with a woman at the end of his school day.  Is this a woman he has been secretly seeing and he's run off with her?  Is it a kidnapping?  

Luke attends a private school and it's clear that his family has money.  When it becomes clear that it is indeed a kidnapping, Thorne is faced with other questions.  Is this just a money thing?  Or is it also payback from some criminal that the boy's father put away and who has now been released?  The family seems to be keeping secrets, one of them being former criminals who may form a threat to the family.  

In the meantime, other crimes go on.  One of the most newsworthy was the brutal attack and murder of an Asian boy who was beaten and kicked to death one night while waiting for a bus.  This murder happened close to the private school where Luke attends.  Is it connected somehow?

This is the sixth book in the Tom Thorne series.  Tom is feeling his age with a bad back giving him lots of pain and anguish.  He feels like his hands are tied in some ways as it is clear that Luke's father is getting inside information on the investigation from his former police mates and his interference makes everything more difficult.  Tom has a suspicion about what is going on that runs counter to his bosses' ideas and he just wants to be left alone to see if his idea pans out.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.