It is 1963, the Beatles are becoming wildly popular in England, and the Swinging Sixties are about to change the post-war Western world. But in the village of Scardale in the Peaks District of Derbyshire, a desolate area beloved of hikers and climbers, nothing has changed for hundreds of years. The village has remained small and insular--most villagers are related, and the most common second names are Carter and Lomas. When Alison Carter, aged 13, disappears while walking her dog, the case is given to a young detective inspector named George Bennett. As Bennett gets to know the families in the village and their concerns, he realizes that this case is not as simple as it first seems. The villagers seem to be closing ranks, and Bennett suspects they may be protecting one of their own. Central to his investigation are Alison's mother and her husband. When Ruth Carter remarried, she chose Philip Hawkin, an outsider who is now the current squire of the village. As Alison's stepfather, he raises all kinds of red flags for Bennett. But so does Alison's close relationship with her cousin Charlie who, too conveniently, it seems, finds a vital clue.

All this is complicated by the fact that the police and the villagers cannot find Alison's body; there are also other disappearances in the area which may or may not be connected. To reveal more about this riveting mystery would be to give too much away. McDermid takes the reader through a maze of conflicting facts and theories, and when Bennett, with the help of local police, solves the case, the real story is only just beginning--especially for Bennett, who will question not only his own part in solving this case, but ultimately the profession he has chosen. --Otto Penzler...

Lindsay Gordon, Scottish journalist and amateur sleuth, was the first creation of international bestseller Val McDermid. Report for Murder introduced the United Kingdom's first lesbian detective, and the series has been perennially popular ever since. Lindsay is tenacious to the point of stubbornness, intrepid to the point of stupidity, and loyal to the point of laying her life on the line. With the support of friends, family, and lovers, she takes on the world with wit and brio, unraveling criminal conspiracies and unmasking murderers. She's feisty, feminist, and funny.

Each novel plunges Lindsay into a different milieu. Report for Murder is set against the backdrop of an exclusive girls' boarding school; Common Murder features a women's peace protest, where feelings run deadly; Deadline for Murder forces Lindsay to confront the darker side of her own world of journalism; Conferences Are Murder explores the deadly underbelly of trade unionism; Booked for Murder lifts the lid on publishing, showing it's no longer a gentleman's game; and Hostage to Murder brings Lindsay face-to-face with child custody battles and the gangsters who inhabit the world of terrorism. The hallmark of McDermid's novels is a compassionate understanding of human relationships and a shrewd insight into contemporary society.

The Lindsay Gordon novels have been published to great critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Booked for Murder, the fifth Lindsay Gordon mystery, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. McDermid has been praised for the way her storytelling interweaves the various elements of the novel into a seamless, balanced whole. "I don't write about issues, I write about characters," McDermid says. The books have won a wide general readership among fans of the mystery genre.

Val McDermid grew up in a Scottish mining community and read English at Oxford. She lives in northern England.