A Kind of Vanishing

From the author of acclaimed thriller 'The Detective's Daughter'

A spellbinding mystery of obsession and guilt, this is also the poignant story of what happens to those left behind when a child vanishes without trace. It is the summer of 1968, the day Senator Robert Kennedy is shot. Two nine-year-old girls are playing hide and seek in the ruins of a deserted village. Alice has discovered a secret about Eleanor Ramsay's mother, and is taunting the other girl. When it is Eleanor's turn to hide, Alice disappears. Years later, an extraordinary turn of events opens up shocking truths for the Ramsay family and all who knew the missing girl.

Review
IAN RANKIN: 'Lesley Thomson is a class above, and A Kind of Vanishing is a novel to treasure.' GUARDIAN: 'Thomson skilfully evokes the era and the slow-moving quality of childhood summers, suggesting the menace lurking just beyond the vision of her young protagonists. A study of memory and guilt with several twists.' SCOTT PACK: 'A thoughtful, well-observed story about families and relationships and what happens to both when a tragedy occurs. It reminded me of Kate Atkinson. Thomson is particularly good at capturing the minutiae of childhood as well as the secrets, the lies, the make believe, the jealousies and spitefulness, the confusion and wonder of being nine years old.' BOOK AFTER BOOK: 'Lesley Thomson's engaging writing style skilfully explores the obsession and the sense of guilt, hope and despair, trust and mistrust that will fill the lives of all the people who once knew the girl who disappeared. A masterful exploration of human feelings that is paired with an equally masterful description of the settings that form the background to this gripping story. Full of unexpected twists, this is a crime story that will leave you wondering until the end whether a crime has, in fact, been committed at all.' SHOTSMAG: 'Such is the vividness of the descriptions of the location in this well structured and well written novel that I want to get the next train down...just when one thinks one can guess where it is leading, it switches, and the conclusion is a tense and gripping one. On the edge of my seat? No way - I was cowering under it.' THE PARKINSON: 'Skilfully lays the foundations in the earlier chapters for what is to come. Each layer of the plot is carefully interwoven with the thoughts, wishes and desires of the main characters. Years pass culminating in the explosion of a shocking truth. If you enjoy a good thriller with more twists and turns than a cork screw, I recommend it.' CANDIS MAGAZINE: 'Complex, disturbing and surprising...the sort of book where you simply have to completely rethink what you thought was going to happen - before sleeping with the lights on.' THE ARGUS: 'The characterisation is particularly excellent...A sensitively written story, evocatively described, this is also an unusual thriller in that it easily bears a second reading.' ABBEY'S BOOKSHOP: 'There is a touch of Susan Hill or Ruth Rendell in her (Barbara Vine) gothic mode here. Very well written.'

About the Author
Lesley Thomson's first novel, Seven Miles from Sydney ("Compelling" Times on Sunday; "Bold and imaginative" Time Out; "Such an interesting novel" Guardian) is a crime thriller set in Australia. She also co-wrote actress Sue Johnston's autobiography Hold on to the Messy Times. She grew up in London and now lives in Lewes, East Sussex