WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

The protagonist is a child psychologist, Alex Delaware, who after a few months retirement, though he is only 33, is asked by a friend, Milo, a police officer investigating a double murder, to have a word with a seven-year-old girl who may be a witness to the murder. The most horrific crime is gradually unfolded by Alex as he doggedly follows the trail from events that have been unexplained in the past, such as the apparent suicide of a paedophile in Alex's office, and the hit and run death of a young orphan in the middle of the night near the children's home where he is placed. The clues lead to very powerful people who are in a conspiracy going back forty years. Murder, kidnapping and child abuse are only part of it.