I must admit my heart sank when I noted that this book was about a wealthy American couple whose four-year-old son is kidnapped by someone dressed as Santa Claus during a Christmas shopping trip.
It is now the autumn of the following year and yes, you've guessed it, his mother, Marin, hairdresser to the stars, has almost become a basket case as he is still missing. Her husband, Derek, a financier dealing with big, big money, has become more and more remote and is spending most of his time at work, which causes him to be away for long periods.
But it is undeniable that Jennifer Hillier writes extremely well, and as you gradually begin to engage with it, you become involved and realise that the characters are not quite standard. It is of little wonder that she has been lauded by her peers.
Needless to say, the plot is all about psychology. Marin blames herself entirely for the kidnapping, because she let go of her son Sebastian's hand in order to text her oldest and best friend, Sal – not a woman but a Latin-American man who had been her boyfriend in college but then morphed into her best friend – and has remained so despite her initially happy marriage to Derek.
One thing that Marin has not told Derek is that she has employed a private investigator, Vanessa Castro, to work on Sebastian's case independently. She is an ex-police officer and very good at her job.
Marin has been persuaded by her friends that she should go back to work at her chain of hairdressing salons. Although she feels that this is some kind of betrayal of Sebastian, she has done so, and does feel a little bit better. But when she receives a phone call from Vanessa asking to meet her in person, she immediately leaps to the conclusion that Sebastian's body has been found. She does go to meet Vanessa in absolute dread, but is quickly reassured that no progress has been made on Sebastian's whereabouts, but almost by accident Vanessa has discovered that Derek is having an affair with a young woman of twenty-four, Kenzie, who is a waitress in a doughnut bar.
This has an electric effect on Marin, who immediately starts stalking Kenzie and Derek. She decides that Kenzie must die and consults her friend Sal. She knows he has a somewhat shady past, and asks him outright if he knows a fixer. Reluctantly, assuming it is Derek Marin wants dead, he says he does and arranges a meeting for Marin with the fixer. The fixer agrees he will do the job for $250,000.
From this point on, the plot becomes extremely complicated, and it must be admitted, exciting. The final few chapters are absolutely gripping, leading to a thrilling, if somewhat improbable, climax.
