Time seems to have flown by since the launch of The Killing Ground back in July. DI Crow’s new case, A Fatal Pact, will be hitting the shelves in the New Year. This time, his team includes some new faces alongside familiar ones. It’s an investigation that takes him into the murky world of runaway teenagers, abduction and murder. Along the way, I learned some interesting, but disturbing facts about the UK’s missing person statistics. On average, someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK, although it is suggested that many people who go missing are not reported to the police. Of those who are, just over 40% are children – that’s almost 70,000 a year! What is most startling is that this figure is thought to be wildly underestimated, as up to 70% of children who go missing may not be reported to the police – that’s another 163,000 not accounted for! The good news, though, is that most are found within a couple of days, and only 2% of children reported as missing are gone for longer than a week or so. Cases of abduction are, thankfully, very rare, and when they do occur, they make the headlines – and, of course, the pages of crime/thriller novels! In the case of teenage runaways, though, we parents have a more recent problem to think about – grooming, especially online, is quickly becoming a curse of the modern age. When a teen goes missing, is it because they were snatched away, or did they apparently go willingly, only to find out their mistake later, when it may be too late? Perhaps, in some cases, an impressionable youngster might never come to admit they were duped. Possibly, in even rarer cases, the supposed victim is the one pulling the strings … we live in an ever more complicated world, and for me, as a crime writer, keeping up with the twists and turns in real life is a fascinating, and often unsettling experience.
A Fatal Pact is out on Kindle and in paperback on 17th January, and available for pre-order from 8th January 2024. Book 4 is under way, and I’ll be spending the next week or so focusing not on crime, but on family, and celebrating the festive season in time-honoured fashion, right down to the Christmas pudding and crackers! At the same time, I will be sparing a thought for all those away from home, or waiting to be reunited with a loved one. I wish everyone a very peaceful Christmas period, whatever you may be doing, and wherever you are, and all that is good in the coming year.
H J Reed, Author 