In Bitter Chill / Sarah Ward / 314 pages / Oct., Nov., Challenge Scary

In January 1978, eight year old Sophie Jenkins and her mate Rachel Stone were abducted in Derbyshire, England.  Now, thirty years later, Sophie's mother is found dead in a room at the Wilton Hotel, of apparent suicide.  A teacher at the school attended by the girls is found murdered.  Detectives Sadler, Childs, and Palmer investigate the recent events and the past crime.  Sophie's body had never been found and the culprits were never brought to justice.  "Blood secrets and family ties were intermingling to produce a kaleidoscope of possibilities." The frequency and speed of the plot twists make this whodunit a roller coaster ride of "the past haunting the present," with just the right touch of budding romance and wedding woes thrown in for good measure.