Little Girl Lost

by Brian McGilloway

  Prehen is one of the few ancient woodlands in the city. It is a very beautiful spot, and has a real sense of isolation, despite its proximity to local housing developments. Building development impacted on sections of the woodland, but the main body is now protected.

  ‘Lucy remembered the quarry as a child, remembered scrabbling down the sheer rock face to search in the marshland of the quarry basin for newts and tadpoles. The basin, almost fifty feet beneath them, was overgrown now, some of the trees so tall their upper branches reached almost halfway up the rock.’

  This is the upper entrance to the woodland, a pathway leading out to Summerhill where Lucy lives in the book. It is along this entrance that she enters the woods, looking for her father.

  This image was taken close to where I live during the heavy snow of last winter. To the right of the shot, you can make out Kent’s house where Kate McLaughlin was held.

  Also by Brian McGilloway

  The Inspector Devlin Series

  Borderlands

  Gallows Lane

  Bleed a River Deep

  The Rising

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to all who helped in bringing Little Girl Lost to life. Thanks to my friends and colleagues in St Columb’s for their support. Thanks, too, to Bob McKimm for his help and support.

  I received very useful advice from a number of individuals regarding various aspects of this story, particularly Alex Mullan, Jody Kirby, Susan Montgomery, Tara Vance and James Johnston.

  Thanks to Peter Straus and Jennifer Hewson of RCW and Emily Hickman of The Agency for their incredible encouragement, advice and support.

  Special thanks to all the team at Pan Macmillan: Cormac, Liz, Jon, Sophie, Ellen, David, Helen and particularly Will.

  My family continue to be hugely supportive of my writing; thanks to all the McGilloways, Dohertys, O’Neills and Kerlins. Particular thanks, and love, to Carmel, Joe and Dermot and to my parents, Laurence and Katrina for all they have done and continue to do.

  Finally, I could not write without the support and love of my wife, Tanya, and our children, Ben, Tom, David and Lucy. For that, and for everything else too, I’m extremely grateful.

  First published 2011 by Macmillan

  This electronic edition published 2011 by Macmillan

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

  Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Basingstoke and Oxford

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-0-230-75987-9 EPUB

  Copyright © Brian McGilloway 2011

  The right of Brian McGilloway to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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