Acid Row

'The riot lost momentum as news of the butchery spread through the estate. The details were vague, no one knew how many had been killed or how, but castration, lynching and a machete attack were all mentioned.'

'Acid Row' is the name the beleaguered inhabitants give to their housing estate. A no-man's land of single mothers and fatherless children - where angry, alienated youth control the streets. Into this battlefield comes Sophie Morrison, a young doctor visiting a patient in Acid Row. Little does she know that she is entering the home of a known paedophile...and with reports circulating that a tormented child called Amy has disappeared, the vigilantes are out in force. Soon Sophie is trapped at the centre of a terrifying siege, held hostage by a violent psychopath. Whipped to a frenzy by unsubstantiated rumour, the mob unleashes its hatred. Against authority...the law...and 'the pervert'. 'Protecting Amy' becomes the catch-all defence for the terrible events that follow. And if murder is part of it, then so be it. But is Amy really missing?

Minette Walters is the author of seven previous novels. Her work has been translated into thirty-two languages and has been adapted for television.