A blur in the sky, a brick no, a trainer, red falls to the water… There seems to be a scuffle… a hand grabbing at the dangling child. Then, with the awfulness of inevitability, the hanging child drops, gravity takes him.
A child is killed after falling from the Humber Bridge. Despite fleeing the scene, two young brothers are found guilty and sent to prison. Upon their release they are granted one privilege only, their anonymity.
Probation officer Cate Austin is responsible for Boy B’s reintegration into society. But the general public’s anger is steadily growing, and those around her are wondering if the secret of his identity is one he actually deserves to keep.
Cate’s loyalty is challenged when she begins to discover the truth of the crime. She must ask herself if a child is capable of premeditated murder. Or is there a greater evil at play?
My thoughts: Cate’s latest case is complicated, as they all are, but in this case, it concerns a child – can a child be a killer? And if so, can the same person start over as an adult?
Boy B (Boy A was his brother) has been relocated to Cate’s area, he is not to make contact with his brother, or anyone else from before, after serving eight years in young offenders.
Renamed Ben and given a flat, he needs to find a job and fill his time productively. It’s Cate’s job to decide whether he’s a reformed citizen who can live outside the system or will re-offend and is a danger to himself and others.
It’s a tricky case, no one ever asked what happened on Humber Bridge, the case was mostly decided on witness testimony and CCTV evidence, and Cate wants answers. She wants to understand what makes a child kill.
Ruth Dugdall never shies away from the complicated questions, and this is no different. Cases involving child killers are rare and always make it to the papers, making it much harder for the perpetrator/s to find a way to re-enter society.
Cate might be a probation officer, but she has investigative instincts and seems to be able to get her clients to open up to her and fill in the gaps in the record.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 