I leaped ahead in the Kate Ivory series because my local library has a spotty collection. In this book, Kate, whose errant mother Roz has returned and is living with her, is asked by her acquaintance Emma (from Oxford Exit) to investigate the disappearance of Emma's mother, who has been helping out while Emma's husband Sam recovers from a bicycle accident. Stallwood uses changing points of view throughout, so that the reader knows almost right away where Joyce, Emma's mother, is, but it is not until the suspenseful end of the book that we learn why she left and just what her mysterious new friend is up to. I find the characters of Kate (a mildly successful author of historical romances) and her mother very engaging, the Oxford (but not academic) setting well-done, and the plot reasonably realistic. ( )