Chasing Shadows

by Wendy Goult

He who murders and gets away lives to murder another day.

Children now play on Brampton Common and nearby householders such as Jan, Kerry and Debs know little of the dramas that once occurred so
near to their own front doors, and nothing of the unquiet souls of
the victims and the stories they could tell.

Yet Police Detective Alan Woodgate cannot forget. Now retired, this is the one cold case that preys on his mind. He and his CID colleagues never did solve the case of the missing persons from Brampton Common, nor could they confirm death since no bodies were found.

Back in the sixties the clues and enquiries led nowhere and now memories and photographs have faded. All Alan knows is that their abductor and
assumed murderer is organised, coldly calculating and is still at liberty. Quite possibly still living in
the local area.

Can Jan, Kerry and Debs help him?

190 pages, Paperback

Published November 30, 2017

About the author

I have lived in East Anglia all my life. I was married to David for 45 years, with two daughters and 5 grandchildren, but when he passed away in 2011 my life changed completely.
Having a background in historical research and construction, I retired and turned my attention to writing stories. I have now published 3 novels, 1 novella and a book of poetry.

Reviews

[Mary Woldering · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every detective has that one case that was never solved. It grows cold and is filed away forgotten, except by the detective who met the dead end in his or her investigation. Fifty years earlier, a you woman vanished without a trace, The following year more girls disappeared. Then the crimes stopped and eventually the villagers living near Bramton Common stopped talking about it and then , it seemed, few even thought about it. It’s a playground for local children now. Alan Woodgate, who was the detective in charge has retired. With the help of local residents who didn’t even know the missing girls fifty years earlier, but have volunteered to help, he looks over the old photos and evidence and comes up with a shocking conclusion about the one who took and likely killed the girls. They are truly Chasing Shadows. A good and well paced read.

[Phil Hore · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Brampton Common had always been a pleasant green space on the edge of town. To look at it you would think that nothing remarkable ever happened here... but you would be wrong.”
In 1967 a girl went missing from the unremarkable town, followed quickly by nearly half a dozen more over the next year, and there would be no trace of any of the girls ever again. The bizarre crime would haunt the young police officer assigned to the case even after his retirement decades later. The quiet hours of retirement brought these ghosts back to that one case, and he former Police Detective Alan Woodgate cannot help himself from returning to walk the crime scene…
…but this time it’s his movements are noticed by many of those who still live in the area, and they are curious just why he’s walking their streets night after night.
This story is not just about a police officer focusing on the one-the-got-away and catching a break, which is what makes this book unique. It’s also about an interested public rolling up their sleeves and offering to help explore the case, offering new eyes on information that has been read a times by those involved in the case when it was still hot. This is a genius idea when you think about it as how many leads or pieces of information could be missed simply due to a lack of intimate knowledge about the people involved and the location? Can the team discover something new?
The story is engaging and rolls along at a great pace. There is no slow down as just as you start to think you know what is going on another path opens up and your off in a new direction, and all the time the paranoia grows as you realise the case might be a lot warmer than everyone believes.
Wendy Goult is a skillful writer who knows how to roll out a story, and you won’t be sorry if you decide to start Chasing Shadows with her.

[John Betts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down, keeps you guessing, I hope there is a book 2 coming.

[P Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it very difficult to put this book down. An excellent story with plenty of twists along the way and I think the story will stick in my mind for quite some time. Highly recommend.

[Andrea Latham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reminds me of the movies that were directed by Alfred Hitchcock with all the suspense and searching for the murderer.