I am absolutely loving reading through the Jack Warr series from Lynda La Plante and book three was no exception.

Vanished starts with Avril, an eccentric widow who claims that her former lodger Adam is stalking her. Initially passed off as a slightly batty old woman DS Jack Warr is the only one who believes her. He is soon proved right when things take a turn to the darker side and Avril is found brutally murdered in her home. When the investigation uncovers an international drugs ring on the victim’s property it’s clear that this is a bigger case than anyone could have realised. As the hunt for Avril’s lodger hits a dead wall it seems he has vanished and that Jack is caught up in something even he couldn’t have foreseen.

This was a story that gripped me right from the beginning. I really enjoy the balance between the crime story element and the personal lives of the main characters. This time we saw a bit of a different element to Ridley as he showed his more vulnerable side which I like. I really like the character of Jack, he’s a charming family man but there is an undercurrent of darkness that gives him a certain edge, yet without descending into the tortured detective trope. His relationship with both his wife and his mother is a big part of the story and it is interesting to see how this has developed.Often when you read series I find that the characters lives can take away from the interest of the crime story but that wasn’t the case here. Both the characters’ back stories and the crime strand were equally enthralling.

Although this was the third in the series it could be read as a standalone, however there were lots of references and characters that had links to the past so I would highly recommend reading the others in the series first to really enjoy the superb tale that Lynda La Plante is weaving through this series.

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