Bad Timing

by Alan Scholefield

Prison doctor Anne Vernon never much liked Ivor Taplin when he was serving a four-year jail sentence for assaulting his wife. But, on his release, Anne discovers that he was in fact a battered husband who only turned on his wife in extremes, after enduring many violent attacks.Feeling sorry for Taplin, Anne offers him a job refurbishing her house once he is out of prison. Then, while she is away in Bath with her new lover and boss Tom Melville, she receives a phone call. Hilly, her six-year-old daughter, has disappeared. Is she lost? Has she been snatched? Or, more likely, has Taplin, who so desperately wanted a child of his own, kidnapped her? Racing back to Kingstown to help the police in their search, Anne prays that they can track down her daughter’s abductor and find Hilly before it is too late.

249 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 1997

About the author

Alan Scholefield was born in 1931 in Cape Town, South Africa. After leaving university he became a journalist and travelled widely in southern and central Africa, Europe, and America. He now lives in Hampshire with his wife and has three daughters. Most famous for his Macrae and Silver series, Scholefield has also written other novels, including Venom, which was made into a film in 1981.

Reviews

[Rebecca Cochran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychological with a twist

I enjoyed trying to figure out who did what and when. Well written drama. Recommend for readers who like a puzzle.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

popsugar #33
This was an okay and easy enough almost thriller.
If thrillers had a cosy version like murders do, this would be a cosy thriller.
Which is a fine ting to be.

[Cathy Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up in a charity shop because of the title - I thought it was the book of the 1980 Nic Roeg film. When I got it home I realised that it was a thriller and had the ghastly tagline: 'Prison doctor Anne Vernon is in a race against time to solve the mystery of her missing child'. So I saved it until I'd run out of other books to read - and then discovered that it was well-written, intelligent and enjoyable. It's a cut above the usual thriller fare, steering clear of superficial characters and lazy stereotyping. I'll be keeping an eye out for more by Mr Scholefield.