SummaryBettina Whitelaw has come a long way from her childhood in
the little outback town of Bundaroo, Australia. Many years
have passed, a lifetime really, but she's never forgotten
what happened there on the evening that changed her life
forever. How could she forget the school dance, her taunting
classmates, dancing with the strange but brilliant English
boy, Hughie Naismyth? How could she forget what happened
next, when, overheated and exhilarated by the music and the
moment, she wandered off alone into a secluded, wooded
area? Now a renowned, elderly author living in London's elegant
Holland Park, Bettina faces a flood of memories as she
works on her memoirs, even though her focus is more on the
frightening things that are happening today. Someone has
recently entered her home and gone through her desk. The
intruder is clearly not an ordinary burglar. It must be
someone she knows. She's been a little lax in handing out
keys, so the suspects are many -- her nephew, Mark; her
agent, Clare; her friends, Peter or Katie. Or it could be
someone else. What does Bettina possess that this person would want to
steal? A puzzle that at first seems mildly disturbing soon
turns deadly serious. Someone is willing to kill -- but
why? Does the answer rest in Bundaroo or nearer to home? A Cry from the Dark shows us vintage Robert Barnard as he
slyly lays the clues that lead to his trademark surprise --
and poignant -- ending.
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