Catch the Fallen Sparrow

Soldiers on training maneuvers discover a burning body of a boy.  DI Joanna Piercy and her sergeant Mike Korpanski set out to investigate.  The autopsy shows that the lad had been abused.  No one has reported a missing boy?  Could he be someone in foster care?  He has been strangled.

It takes two days of investigation before the boy is identified.  He was living in a home for orphans, and had a predilection for disappearing for days, so the warden had not been overly worried at his disappearance.

Immediately after questioning two of the children at the home, they too disappear.  The fear is that the murderer may know where they have absconded to.  They need to be found for their own safety.

Things change drastically when one of the prime suspects is found with his throat slashed.  Piercy and Korpanski need to resolve this before more become victims.  Author Priscilla Masters presents a surprising culprit in the end.  A good and quick read.