I am fairly sure I read this before, but I can find no record of it on bookcrossing, which is odd. So I got this copy and read it again.
Disgraced police officer John Brace asks for Vera to come visit him in prison. He holds out the carrot of possible useful information. Vera therefore does go see him, and he asks her to look in on his daughter, see if she is okay. Vera finds the daughter and looks in on her. She is not interested in her dad given that she did not even grow up with him, but she does take in Vera's genuine caring. The young woman is struggling and this frumpy woman is just motherly enough.
The bits of information Brace throws out are corraled by Vera and turned into a cold case investigation, the investigation of the disappearance of a low-level con man who used to fraternize with Vera's father, Hector Stanhope.
As she gets deeper and deeper into the work, Vera finds Hector playing a bigger role than she expected. Hector and three friends were involved in criminal activity, both minor and not, and they met frequently at a now-defunct nightclub called The Seagull.
Vera is not one to shrink from the truth, much as it promises to hurt.
Disgraced police officer John Brace asks for Vera to come visit him in prison. He holds out the carrot of possible useful information. Vera therefore does go see him, and he asks her to look in on his daughter, see if she is okay. Vera finds the daughter and looks in on her. She is not interested in her dad given that she did not even grow up with him, but she does take in Vera's genuine caring. The young woman is struggling and this frumpy woman is just motherly enough.
The bits of information Brace throws out are corraled by Vera and turned into a cold case investigation, the investigation of the disappearance of a low-level con man who used to fraternize with Vera's father, Hector Stanhope.
As she gets deeper and deeper into the work, Vera finds Hector playing a bigger role than she expected. Hector and three friends were involved in criminal activity, both minor and not, and they met frequently at a now-defunct nightclub called The Seagull.
Vera is not one to shrink from the truth, much as it promises to hurt.
