Nowhere's Child

the long version

"On a deserted London street late one evening in 1980, a beautiful young woman is brutally slashed, her body left bleeding in the gutter. When Detective Smallbone is called to the scene he's surprised to discover that he recognizes the victim: she's a model, a rising star." "Yet his investigation proves fruitless. The killer left no clues, her past is a blank and no one seems to know who she really was. But just as the pressure on Smallbone is at its height, the case takes a surprising turn." "Away from the crimes of the city, a young autistic boy called Kit is living alone with his mother. Things are difficult at home: men come and go, his mother is secretive, they keep moving house. For Kit the world is unfriendly and strange, but he knows that as he grows up he must somehow find his place in it." "Many years later, Kit comes to London, trying to make sense of himself and searching for some answers. His quest leads him to an ageing Detective Smallbone - and the case of a murdered model in 1980."--BOOK JACKET.