Missing men

About the book

Sergeant Morley brings Lavender a frustrating case: a picture broker has vanished without leaving an obvious sign of violence or a useful starting point. Newspaper reports of other disappearances might be unrelated, and Morley is ready with ordinary explanations for each. Then a young woman arrives with another missing person to report, increasing the pressure to decide whether coincidence is enough. Lavender's friend Gilruth narrates the investigation, setting the detective's alertness against the comfortable assumptions that can make routine police work efficient but misleading. Vincent Starrett gives the story a distinctly urban setting, with offices, transport, newspapers, and rented rooms shaping the evidence. The central question is how absence itself can become a clue.

• Disappearance and connection
• Urban mystery
• Assumptions and observation

Why read it

Follow a detective-and-narrator partnership as apparently separate absences begin to demand a more deliberate explanation.

English detective story by Vincent Starrett