Kidnap

Eddie Henderson #1

by L.R. Wright

In the tradition of P.D. James and Ruth Rendell, to whom L.R. Wright is often compared, the suspense in Kidnap stems not from whodunnit but why. A young girl is taken from her aunt's care while her father is in Hawaii trying to recover from his wife's sudden death. A middle-aged woman, spurred on by an unscrupulous accomplice, tries to assuage her feelings of loneliness and despair with a dramatic act of revenge. Edwina "Eddie" Henderson, battling to assert her authority over the Sechelt's RCMP detachment following the retirement of beloved Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg, urgently tries to put together the pieces of a mysterious psychological puzzle in time to find the missing girl.

Genres: Mystery, Canada, Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 18, 2000

About the author

L.R. Wright was born Laurali Rose Appleby on 5 June 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Known as Bunny, Wright grew up in Saskatoon and in Abbotsford, British Columbia. She worked as a reporter in Calgary before becoming a full-time writer in 1977. After publishing her fourth book, Wright returned to school, receiving an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Simon Fraser University. She taught writing at the University of British Columbia and wrote adaptations for several of her books for radio, film, and television. L.R. Wright died of breast cancer on 25 February 2001.

Series:
* Karl Alberg
* Eddie Henderson

Awards
Arthur Ellis Award: Novel
* 1991 – A Chill Rain in January – Winner
* 1996 – Mother Love – Winner

Reviews

[Alison Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a slow paced "why-dunnit" that seemed to take a while to get off the ground. The book's big 'aha!' moment (2/3rds through?) occurs when the author succinctly ties the 2 meandering and seemingly unrelated narratives together as one. That's when I thought 'Huh! The author's more clever than I give her credit for!' It's nice to be surprised. The characters are all a bit flat though...none of them inspire sympathy, even the ones that are meant to. It's like everyone's suffering from some sort of low level depression- cops, villains & victims alike. Also, I'm thrown by the the book being set on the Sunshine Coast; as a long-time resident myself, it's impossible to fabricate my own landscape when the author portrays my small town so accurately (except when she doesn't, and then it's maddening to be led down a road intimately familiar, only to have it make a left turn where none exists!) The hybrid model of geographic truthiness doesn't work for me. All in all a decent enough read.

[Deane · Rating 5 out of 5]

First novel featuring Staff Sgt Alberg's replacement, Sgt Edwina 'Eddie' Henderson. She is there for several months but knows she can't stay because she doesn't have the rank to do so but she is offered the job as head of the unit in Gibsons which is about 1/2 hour away.

It's a very good story about a 5-year old girl being kidnapped due to what had happened to the kidnapper's daughter.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one. Took a turn I wasn’t expecting and loved that. Wasn’t quite as dark with crazy people as some of then others in the series. Liked some characters, strongly disliked others. Love Eddie more and I really hope her ex gets what’s coming to him in the next book. Again, this author really covers all the mental illness’s in her characters. Scary.

[Joan Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

entertaining

[Laura Chowns · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very good. I read it in an evening and just kept thinking, is it over yet? The characters were all bland and no attachments were made.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing read.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creepy story.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very slow paced story about the kidnapping of a child which doesn't take place until late in the story. did not warm to the characters. I have really enjoyed other books from this author and I still have a few on my TBR which I will get to sometime soon.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because its setting was the BC Sunshine Coast - it was an interesting mystery - pretty good story but not a great, great book - I would say good book.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

No murder in this mystery, but excellent read! Several storylines and each one kept me quite interesting. I saw several reviews that said it was slow, but I didn't find that to be the case.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: a girl is taken while her father is away. The RCMP's Edwina Henderson has to assert her authority.