On a summer's day, a baby vanishes. The mystery is never solved, leaving a young mother lost in grief. Twenty-one years later, ex-police detective Dan Hennessy is struggling with his own tragic loss, and when a neighbour disappears and a body turns up at the solar farm, he is desperate for answers. The haunted landscape is keeping secrets, and there are dangers lurking in the Brecks. Dan must find the truth. Can he offer hope to the grieving mother, and also save himself?

Shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award, The Lost Detective is Elspeth Latimer's debut crime novel, to be published this autumn by Story Machine. Elspeth lives in the Brecks, at the heart of East Anglia, and the subtle beauty of this landscape, together with the realities of contemporary rural life, are the inspiration behind her novel. Elspeth is originally from Scotland, where she worked as an architect, before her love of reading prompted a career change. She has a Prose Fiction MA along with a PhD on crime series, from the University of East Anglia, where she is now associate tutor in crime writing. Later this year Cambridge University Press will publish Writing the Detectives, her study on creating the protagonist in contemporary crime series. Elspeth has always been passionate about the genre and the ways it reflects who we are. The Lost Detective is a moving story about how people cope when the worst happens.