‘In Plain Sight’ by Marion Todd

Published by Canelo Crime,
23 July 2020.
ISBN: 978-1-78863819-7

DI Clare MacKay and DS West are taking part in a charity run on the beach. There were fifty- or sixty-people taking part, and suddenly they just came to a halt.Bloody protesters at least thirty of the lying across the beach, Jim, her sergeant called out. Clare ran back to two uniformed officers telling them to get onto the station and request at least six more bodies and a couple of vans to get this lot shifted.

An elderly whitehaired man stood up from the sitting protesters and announced. We represent NEFEW. We object to McIntosh Water’s plan to build a bottled water plant on Priory Marsh. He continued ‘Priory Marsh is home to several rare examples of lichens.’ There was a ripple of applause from the protestors. Clare regarded them unimpressed. ‘I appreciate that but you’re disrupting a charitable event here. I’m guessing you don’t have a permit for this protest. Clare looked across the dunes and could see the first of the police cars approaching. The white-haired man opened his mouth to speak, but was forestalled by an ear-piercing scream that came from somewhere behind Clare. She turned to see a woman around thirty a short distance away, one hand on a pram handle. She cried out. ‘My baby, someone’s taken my baby.’ 

The woman had now been Joined by a man, Clare assumed was the baby’s father.  In response to Clare’s gentle prompts, she learns that the baby was a girl, six months old, and she had small purple birthmark on her neck. Clara turned to her colleague Sara and said take the parents’ home and stick to them like glue. 

Kevin and Lisa Michell lived in a modern, detached villa on the outskirts of St Andrews. A red Audi A3 and a Black Volkswagen Arteon sat on a hard standing at the front of the house. It was clear that they were comfortably off. 

Clare tells the parents that she has alerted colleagues in Dundee and Fife. She asks Lisa who they can call for her, but it appears that she in not in touch with her sister, and her mother is dead. Trying to pinpoint when exactly baby Abigail was taken Kevin said there was a pizza delivery bike heading away towards the main road, and I said to Lisa we should have phoned for a pizza. When the doctor arrived his first words were ‘did you give Abi her medicine this morning?’ Lisa went into blind panic, ‘We have to find her now?’ Abi has a congenital heart defect, the doctor explained. She needs digoxin twice a day. 

When DI Clare Mackay learns that the baby has potentially fatal medical condition, she knows that she and her team are in a race against the clock. 

As Clare investigates, she soon realises this victim wasn't selected at random. Someone knows who took the baby girl, and why. Which of the residents of St Andrews is hiding something and why? And what are the Mitchells hiding?  

With twists and turns, this is a mystery full of surprises. Will Clare and her team find Abi before it’s too late.  A compelling read.  Recommended.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett 

Marion Todd is a native of Dundee. She studied music and worked for many years as a piano teacher and jobbing accompanist. Now a full-time writer, Marion lives in North-east Fife, overlooking the River Tay. She is the author of the bestselling DI Clare Mackay series, which has sold over half a million copies. Marion can be found @MarionETodd on X. 

                               https://www.mariontodd.com/