Un buon thriller, scritto bene e avvincente. Molto belle le parti che si svolgono in Africa e la conclusione è veramente buona. ( )

The start of this book reminded me a lot of Suzanne Berne's "A Perfect Arrangement". They are really very similar, featuring a professional couple who have enough trouble coping with their existing kids as well as their working-parent guilt without having another kid. They end up having another kid. The difference here is that this novel goes the way you expect it to.

Additional intrigue is added to the plot here by the characters being resident in a country utterly foreign to them (Botswana). This is a Botswana a good deal less cuddly and nice than the one in the Ladies' Detective Agency series.

I liked the way the author wrote the voice of Emma - she comes across as quite brisk and not at all motherly. There are people out there like that and sometimes bad things happen to them. I also liked the way it was never clear whether there would be a happy ending or not.

I haven't read the author's previous novel, but having read the synopsis in the back of this one, you would be forgiven for assuming she only writes about doctors with missing offspring. To be honest even if that were true, I would still happily read them all. ( )

Hospital consultants, Emma and Adam Goodhew, have two daughters aged 10 and 5. Adam is offered a year in Botswana to do some research and his family go with him, including their new-born son, Sam. But Sam is abducted from his cot, amid fears of witch doctors and the family's lives fall apart.

The book starts with Sam going missing and then goes back to tell of the family's life in London. Throughout, Emma narrates which works well, particularly in Botswana and during the search for Sam. I did struggle with the early parts of the book, finding myself having to go back and read bits again, as though I wasn't completely taking it in. But then it got into its stride and I got right into the story. I read the last third in one go and was racing through it to find out what happened at the end.

I enjoyed Daughter by the same author and, although it didn't bother me, a lot of people were not keen on the ending. This book is much more conclusive and I really enjoyed it. I do like Jane Shemilt's writing style and look forward to book 3. ( )