This is the story of Nele whose nine-month-old daughter disappears from her cot at home. It's not the first tragedy that befell Nele. Her son from a previous marriage was found dead in his cot. Soon, all fingers point at Nele as the prime suspect in her daughter's disappearance. On her own, Nele goes on the run to find her daughter and ends up receiving help from an unlikely source.
I found the story a little slow to start off with and thought the mystery of who was behind the kidnapping was far too obvious. But I enjoyed the various perspectives of how the disappearance affected everyone and thought the different relationships, between Nele and her husband, between the foster parents and even between the detectives investigating the case, were explored really well. Some of it was deeply moving.
So while there were a few suspenseful moments, for me, the real strength of this book was the well drawn characters, their believable mental states and their fascinating relationships. I would certainly like to read more by this author who was new to me.
Thanks to AmazonCrossing for my copy via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review. ( )