Predictable plausibility

This Child of Mine

Her stories are down-to-earth, set in familiar territory, and peopled by mostly recognisable characters. Although her prose is always conventional, she has command of her material and a talent for making the reader believe that ordinary people can get away with unusual things such as, in this case, kidnapping.

Don’t be alarmed — this is not a horrible ransom crime. If anything, it is similar to Gone Baby Gone, a grim scenario in which a neglected child is abducted through the kindest of motives. In Moriarty’s plot the criminal is a teacher who works with deprived children, victims of domestic circumstances which threaten their well-being and sometimes their lives.