Finding twists in tale of lost identity

By Tim Weaver Michael Joseph, £7.99 for his lodgings and food.

Without a birth certificate or national insurance number, he can’t claim benefits or get a job.

While stuck in the limbo of not officially existing, he desperately searches for his identity, making media appeals and undergoing hypnosis.

But when no family or friends come forward and his memory doesn’t return, he turns to private investigator David Raker as his last hope.

Intrigued by his case, the seasoned locator of missing people soon has more questions than answers. He’s disturbed by a possible link to the body of a woman found beside a London railway line two years ago. Is Richard a killer or a victim?

Raker must draw on all his skills and contacts from his former career as an investigative journalist and years of experience in locating missing people to solve the mystery of Richard Kite’s true identity. The engaging Raker novels normally start with the investigator looking for a missing person so trying to help a person with missing memories is an intriguing premise that grips the reader from the first page.

Weaver maintains a fast-paced story packed with twists and surprises, perhaps too many to be plausible. But this is nevertheless a thrilling and hugely enjoyable novel with a frantic, engrossing finale. To order any of the books featured, post free (UK only), please phone The Express Bookshop on You may also send a cheque made payable to or you can order online at www.expressbookshop.com