Night Child (U)

by Alan Scholefield

Hannah Wilton is a psychiatrist, caring and compassionate, torn by guilt because of the tragic deaths of her husband, Richard, and her son, Tom. She buries herself in work, until Dr Sophie Maxted, her mother-in-law, challenges her to treat a young patient who could be autistic and who might be able to solve the strange, fantastical murders on Hampstead Heath. However, Hannah needs to find the key to unlock his mind.

480 pages, Hardcover

First published July 24, 1992

About the author

Alan Scholefield was born in 1931 in Cape Town, South Africa. After leaving university he became a journalist and travelled widely in southern and central Africa, Europe, and America. He now lives in Hampshire with his wife and has three daughters. Most famous for his Macrae and Silver series, Scholefield has also written other novels, including Venom, which was made into a film in 1981.

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh man, that original cover is pretty crappy. But Endeavor Press picked it up, dusted it off, rebranded it as a thriller for a modern audience, but it is? Well, like many Endeavor’s endeavors its quite dated AND very British and somewhat mild on thrills.
This one is mild on mystery too…or so you’d think. The murders occur in the first chapters and we know how and why. But we don’t know who and that is the major plot twist at the end.
And in-between, there’s much ado about child psychology.
Mind you, this book is from. The 90s, when autism was still something fresh and new and not wildly understood (or at least ubiquitous enough in pop culture to know what’s what) and for a book to feature a kid who may or may not be autistic must have been a huge deal.
Now, of course, it just read (as mentioned) dated with some of the jargon even being taboo these days. But basically, a young child is found at the scene of the crime. A child who appears to have been locked up for ages and not taken care of, so now no one is quite sure whether he is autistic of just Mowgli-wild.
There’s a shrink helping him and a pair of foster parents and then there are police detectives trying to solve the murders and a photojournalist interested in the case.
So more of a drama in a way than a murder mystery, but does have murders and mystery to satisfy the genre criteria. Decent enough of a read if you’re in the mood for it in that very distinct date British thriller read. Good enough for a freebie.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another literary triumph from an extremely talented author with the ability to write an array of diversely themed literature. His easy, engaging style draws the reader into the lives of the characters so that you become unaware of how you are being drawn into the plot until you are wrenched into the reality of the drama unfolding. You become engulfed in the emotional reality of the developing tension building in the narrative. Scholefield plays his reader’s minds, senses and emotions like a skilled conductor with his orchestra. This is the 22nd book of his I have read and highly recommend for a tense engaging and surprising end.