The first child to go missing is little Clara Foyle. She was supposed to stay with Mrs. Smith and the other children, but instead she wandered off because the parents and the other children were ignoring her. She didn't really mind, but if she had known what was coming maybe she wouldn't have been so quick to leave the safety of the others. On her way home Clara disappears without a trace, starting a frantic search that will bring Detective Sergeant Etta Fitzroy onto the case. DS Etta Fitzroy is a capable officer, but after a disastrous mistake she is also skating on thin ice in terms of her career. From the start the case is a difficult one, Clara's parents are disconnected from each other, and the family lacks closeness. It seems as though they are both going through the motions, and it quickly becomes clear that not everything in the house is as it seems.
DS Fitzroy is determined to solve the case and bring Clara home, and knowing that Clara has a disability makes her kidnapping seem even more deplorable and cruel. With all the energy the team is expending on Clara's case the last thing they need is another missing child, but that is exactly what they get when Jakey Frith goes missing. Jakey is special like Clara, he has a rare condition called Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva or Stone Man Syndrome, that slowly traps him in a prison of his own bone. With each accident and flare up Jakey gains more extra bone and loses more mobility. His family support him, trying to protect him from accidents, but he still spends way too much time in hospital. When Jakey disappears DS Fitzroy has the unenviable task of trying to balance two cases with a high risk of losing one or both of the children. As DS Fitzroy digs into the case she comes to the horrifying conclusion that it is not two separate cases at all - that the same person has taken Clara and Jakey, and that they are not his only victims. Can DS Fitzroy and Jakey's dad Erdman solve the mystery and find Jakey before it's too late?
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked up Rattle, I had already read When I was ten by Fiona Cummins and wanted to try her earlier works, but I was not disappointed. The story unfolds slowly, but not too slowly, moving between the point of view of the kidnapper, the children, the Police, and the families. Some authors fumble with the switching views, but Cummins uses it to excellent effect, giving you glimpses that provide information and clues without giving away too much. The different characters are well developed and have genuine emotions and motivations, making them feel more like people than cliches or cardboard cutouts of characters. Cummins manages to balance sequences of action and drama with world building and background setting, keeping the story moving while providing the background you need to understand whose who and what is happening. A fantastic start to a great series.
If you like this book then try:
- When I was ten by Fiona Cummins
- Sticks and stones by Katherine Firkin
- The liar's daughter by Claire Allan
- The nowhere child by Christian White
- Good me bad me by Ali Land
- Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
- The vanishing season by Joanna Schaffhausen
Reviewed by Brilla
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