U Is for Undertow

the long version

In 1960s Santa Teresa, California, a child is kidnapped and never returned. Twenty years later, Michael Sutton contacts private detective Kinsey Millhone for help, believing that he had stumbled across the kidnappers burying Mary Claire Fitzhugh's body ... Michael's account is indistinct - he was only six years old at the time of the kidnapping. But Kinsey is certain there is something vital within Michael's recollections. And even when what is eventually unearthed isn't what anyone expected, she can't quite let go of the case. As the protagonists of the tragedy are gradually brought to light, from Country Club parents to their free-living, hippy children, the truth finally begins to emerge. And while stepping back into the past, Kinsey discovers more about her own history too ...