Published by Crime
Express, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-907869-09-9
Amir Hamade is homeless, and heading on a
bitterly cold night to find shelter at St Barnabas Church, when he encounters a
young frightened Somali girl. Unable to elicit any information from her, Amir
feels that he cannot leave her - she is not dressed for the biting cold and in
compassion he wraps his own coat around her and encourages her to go with
him. Although Amir knows that St
Barnabas is a male only shelter he is at a loss as to what else he can do,
hoping that one of the helpers, Andre Motombo will be able to suggest somewhere
for the girl to find shelter. But as
they approach St Barnabas the girl becomes even more frightened and runs back
the way that they have come.
DC Tina
Barraclough of the South Yorkshire police has
for the last six months been on secondment from the elite Serious Crimes Unit
to work on a project dealing with asylum seekers. Tina is also on a last chance and cannot
afford to mess up. When she receives a
message that Amir Hamade is in custody accused of murder and wants to see her,
she knows that she must step carefully, as clearly Amir is seeking help – can
she give it to him without jeopardising her own position.
Not Safe is a
dark and harrowing murder mystery that graphically illustrates the plight of
the homeless and asylum seekers. The
latter terrified of the detention centres which are rife with abuse. Once achieving
asylum seeker status while waiting for their case to be they heard have a right
to accommodation and a small amount of money, but exist in limbo unable to work.
A thought
provoking powerful story.
Highly recommended.
-----
Lizzie
Hayes
Danuta Reah who
also writes under the name Carla Banks, was born in South
Yorkshire. She comes from an academic family but opted out of
formal education at the age of 16. She
went to university as a mature student and then went on to teach adults in
Further and Higher Education. She taught linguistics and creative writing, and
in the course of this, refined her own writing style. Danuta is the author of
four novels of pyschological suspense. Silent
Playgrounds, Only Darkness, Night Angels and Bleak Water. Her
most recent books in the UK,
under the name Carla Banks are Strangers; and Forest of
Souls,
In 2005 she won the CWA Short Story
Dagger for No Flies on Frank (which was included in the The
Best British Mysteries IV anthology published by Allison & Busby in
2006. Danuta Reah is past Chair of the
Crime Writers' Association. She also publishes academic books, valued as
resources for the study of language. She is married and lives in South Yorkshire with her artist husband.
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