The police are reluctant to believe young Lucy Paige when she tells them that she saw two men chasing a woman across a field. They suspect her of inventing a mysterious stranger, who hit her and then ran away, in order to protect her friend, Martin, from accusations of child abuse and assault. But they have to reassess her story, when a woman's body is found a few days later and Lucy recognises it as her attacker. Who is the corpse in the graveyard? Why was she running away? And who were the men that Lucy saw chasing her? Lucy meanwhile is more concerned about her police inspector friend, Jonah Porter, and his rehabilitation after being paralysed in a shooting incident. He seems to be falling into a pit of depression - until her tale of a vanishing stranger with a distinctive tattoo catches his imagination and inspires him to do some armchair detective work of his own.
About the Author: Judy graduated from the University of Oxford in 1979 with a degree in Mathematics. She worked in industry and academia before taking a career break, returning to work as a part-time Mathematics Lecturer in 1994. She gained a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Liverpool in 2001 and then held post-doctoral research posts at Liverpool (in the Earth Science Department) and UMIST (in the Mathematics Department) before entering the NHS as R&D Manager at Alder Hey Hospital in January 2004. In 2006 she joined the newly-formed North West Stroke Research Network as its manager. This involved recruiting a team of research nurses, allied health professionals and administrative staff to facilitate recruitment to research studies at sites across the North West of England, from Carlisle to Crewe and from Southport to Oldham - a population of approximately seven million people. Currently she is a part-time lecturer in the Mathematics Department at the University of Chester and devotes her remaining working hours to her writing. So far, she has completed eight novels, each featuring the eccentric academic, Bernie Fazakerley, and her friends from the Police Service. She is a Methodist Local Preacher and Secretary of the Parochial Church Council in the small village in Cheshire where she lives with her husband.