Small Paperback, Very Good Condition, 2002, 344 pages, ISBN 1 86508 900 1

Acid Row – Minette Walters

‘Acid Row’ is the name the beleaguered inhabitants give to their housing estate. It is a no-man’s land of single mothers and fatherless children – where angry, alienated youth control the streets.

Into this battlefield comes Sophie Morrison, a young doctor visiting a patient in Acid Row. Little does she know that she is entering the home of a known paedophile… and with reports circulating that a tormented child called Amy has disappeared, the vigilantes are out in force.

Soon Sophie is trapped at the centre of a terrifying siege, held hostage by a violent psychopath. Whipped to a frenzy by unsubstantiated rumour, the mob unleashes its hatred – against authority… the law… and ‘the pervert’. ‘Protecting Amy’ becomes the catch-all defence for the terrible events that follow. And if murder is part of it, then so be it. But is Amy really missing?

“Moves with such ferocity that you almost need to sit down and lock the doors behind you.” - Travellink