Acid Row — Minette Walters

Acid Row. The name the beleaguered inhabitants give to the place they live. A no-man's-land of single mothers and fatherless children where angry, alienated teenagers control the streets.

Into this battleground comes Sophie Morrison, a young doctor visiting a patient in Acid Row. Little does she know that she is entering the home of a known paedophile. And with reports circulating that a tormented child called Amy has disappeared, the vigilantes are out in force...

Soon Sophie is trapped at the centre of a terrifying siege, with a man she has come to despise.

Whipped to a frenzy by unsubstantiated rumour, the mob unleashes its hatred. Against authority, the law - and the 'pervert'. 'Protecting Amy' becomes the catch-all defence for the terrible events that follow. And if murder is part of it, then so be it...