Simisola

Simisola by Rendell, Ruth. mass_market edition. ISBN: 9780440222026.

In the quiet Sussex country town of Kingsmarkham, the daughter of Nigerian physician Raymond Akande is missing. "Its probably nothing, " says Dr. Akande to his friend and client Chief Inspector Wexford, whose help he enlists. But the days that follow prove the doctor dreadfully wrong. A young woman is found murdered not Melanie, but the last person to have seen and spoken to her. A second womans body is discovered, again not Melanies, but like her, young and black. A third woman turns up beaten and unconscious; like the others, she is of Nigerian origin. As Inspector Wexfords investigation stretches from days into weeks, it becomes his unhappy obligation to counter the hopes of the doctor and his wife. In Wexfords professional opinion, Melanie, like the other young women, has become the victim of a serial killer with a horrifyingly singular objective.