Having been evicted from her house sitting by the odious Bertie & Charlie, Fran Varady is now homeless again, or as her friend Ganesh puts it, dossing in Uncle Hari’s garage. Which doesn’t sound too bad until one considers the petrol smell, the stacks of old discarded boxes, the rusty bike, and no windows, but things could be worse, depends on your point of view.
However, when Ganesh reports on a bloke asking after her in the shop, Fran is convinced it is the DSS checking up on her, but it turns out to be one Clarence Duke, Private Investigator hired by Fran’s mother, who had walked out on her when Fran was just seven. Having spent the last fourteen years trying to forget her mother’s existence Fran is wary of Clarence’s message that her mother wants to see her, now that she is dying.
Memories flood back as Fran recalls her mother, and with curiosity uppermost she agrees to visit her mother at a hospice in Egham. Yet more shocks are in store for Fran as her mother asks her to find her sister, the child that she gave up, virtually at birth. And so against her better judgement Fran agrees, and embarks on a journey to find the sister she has never known.
This is the fourth in the Fran Varady series and in this book the mystery is closer to home, as Fran confronts her own background. But that is over simplifying it, as there are of course others involved, where had her sister been all these years?, what has her life been like?, does she know she is adopted?, what of her adopted parents?, and why is Clarence Duke following Fran? Then Clarence Duke turns up dead!
Once again Ann Granger weaves a fascinating tale, including all the characters
I have grown to enjoy. Whilst Gan is as ever great support to Fran and although
often cross with her, always because he sees so clearly that she is as usual
on a spiral to destruction, I still love Uncle Hari best. Like him, I too am
convinced that if space debris is going to fall from the sky, its surely going
to fall through my roof! Highly recommended.
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Lizzie Hayes
Ann Granger is the author of the highly acclaimed Meredith and Markby series
of which there are thirteen in the series