Missing Person

Point Crime: The Beat #1

by David Belbin

The beginning of The Beat, Belbin's groundbreaking police procedural series, finds Clare Coppola about to go on patrol for the first time when her own home is broken into. Another fast paced mystery from the author of the best selling Bone and Cane series, this story introduces a cast of young police officers investigating the disappearance of a fifteen year old girl in inner city Nottingham. Is she with a boyfriend or is something more sinister going on? With a new afterword by the author, this was first published this for teenagers but the series always had a strong adult audience, too. Find out why.

'David Belbin is one of the finest crime writers around today' - James Craig

Genres: Young Adult, Crime

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 21, 1995

About the author

Belbin's work is known for breaking boundaries and dealing responsibly with difficult social issues that affect teenagers. He first attained success with a number of books for Scholastic's Point Crime series.

Reviews

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, I kinda guessed that Hannah's step-father was the problem, but I hadn't 100% worked it out.
* Clare wakes up to find her parent's home being burgled. She tries to arrest one burglar only to get hit on the head by another. She's annoyed when they get away, she doesn't think it's right that their house would be targeted when she's a policewoman. She's also annoyed because they stole her younger brother's computer - and his room isn't usually touched because he's dead.
* Clare goes to work, she's paired with a cop called Neil, she's not happy because she used to date Neil. She asks if she can be changed.
* Jan is going back to work after having a baby (Henry), she expected to be working with Neil, and instead she's given Ben, and she's not impressed. She gets the feeling that Ben doesn't respect her, so she asks to change.
* Neil thought he'd be with Ben, but he's happy to have time to talk Clare into going out with him again.
* The boss switches things so Neil is with Ben, and Clare is with Jan, but Jan doesn't want to work with Clare either.
* A 15-year-old girl has gone missing - Hannah. Clare keeps spotting her in nightclubs though, and nearly catches her a couple of times. They see that Hannah looks okay, but don't understand why she left home.
* They investigate the robbery at Clare's house as well as some other houses, and discover a garage where stolen items are being kept. Neil is doing overtime watching the garage when two men show up, but his radio is dead. He gets in their van and goes to the warehouse where they're storing stuff, but is locked in the van and can't get out. Eventually he's discovered and they tie him up and discuss shooting him. It turns out that Hannah's step-father is the centre of the operation.
* Someone calls Clare and tells her they have Hannah, Hannah explains to Clare that she's sure her step-father is involved in selling stolen goods, and tells them where the warehouse is.
* There's a showdown at the warehouse, then a car chase, then the police get the upper hand and one of the men gets shot. Clare is just pleased that Neil is okay because she's now realised that she wants him back.