THE SUSPECT
by Fiona Barton Bantam Press, £12.99
NEVER become the story. Generations of young journalists desperate to make names for themselves have been indoctrinated with these sage words by jaundiced news editors who are infuriated by mavericks crossing the line between reporting the facts of a good yarn and becoming one of the story’s key characters.
As chief reporter of The Herald, Kate Waters has seen it all, written it up in purple prose and filed her copy in time to be home for tea. Murders, tragedies and shocking exposés, she has covered them all with her dramatic intros and wombtrembling quotes. Whether she’s running with the pack – the tight scrum of national newspaper hacks who turn news events into feeding frenzies – or going off-piste to scoop rivals with exclusive splashes and spreads, Ms Waters is a byline machine supreme.
Another page one with days of follow-ups beckon when two 18-year-old girls fresh from their A-levels head off to Thailand for a gap year break of discovery and enlightenment and vanish into the ether.
In an age when people are only a social media post away from contact with loved ones back home, the girls’ silence becomes deafening. Publicity is vital. Step forward Ms Waters, a sympathetic ear, a friendly shoulder to cry on, the perfect messenger to take the parents’ anguish and fill acres of blank pages with their dread, suffering and pleas for help.
A back catalogue of countless human interest tales and a professional relationship with the British detective inspector in charge of the case puts Waters in prime position ahead of her rival journos covering this modern-day tale of Middle England angst.
However as a mother she is experiencing the same trepidation. Her college dropout son is gallivanting in the Far East, making only sporadic calls home and giving her a unique insight into the panic of the girls’ parents as their worst fears materialise. All too soon it becomes a nightmare which Waters finds herself sharing.
Fiona Barton unfurls a tense story with brilliant use of flashbacks and face-slapping revelations. Her experience as a national newspaper journalist makes for authenticity and brilliant storytelling.