‘Walking With Ghosts’ by John Baker

Published by Orion,
10 August 2000.
ISBN: 978-0-57540248-5 (PB)

When India Blake is kidnapped, her husband pays the ransom, and only contacts the police when she fails to re-appear. The police take little action, until that is, she turns up dead three months later.

Because Edward Blake had recently insured his wife for two and a half million pounds, the insurance company call in PI Sam Turner to investigate. As Sam is trying to spend as much time as possible with his wife Dora, as her life slowly ebbs away. He hands the day to day running of the case over to his colleagues  Geordie and Maria.  As Geordie investigates the people around Edward Blake, his own personal life takes a drastic turn, so too does Maria’s.

The over-riding force in the book though, is Dora. The relationship between her and Sam, the unspoken messages that convey to the reader the strength of their love , and the power of the mind, as Dora reflects on her past, and sees truths that had previously eluded her. The allusions to  Lady Day were particularly poignant, as for me too, Lady Day had slipped away before I ever heard her sing.

Interspersed with the investigation of the death of India Blake, are the changes in the lives of both Geordie and Maria, the flashes into Billy’s life, and Dora’s estranged son who she longs to see.

A terrific book. Highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

John Baker was born in 1942, in Kingston upon Hull, and educated at Hull University. He worked as a social worker, shipbroker, truck driver, milkman, and most recently in the computer industry. Married to Anna, Norwegian photographer, five children.