The History Of Mr Polly : With an introduction by Giles Foden

Deer Lake is a small Minnesota town where people know their neighbours and crime is something that happens on the evening news.

But the illusion of safety is shattered when eight-year-old Josh Kirkwood disappears from a hockey rink as he waits for his mother to pick him up after practice.

The only thing the police find is his duffel bag with a note stuffed inside, `Ignorance is not innocence but SIN`.

With each passing hour the search for Josh takes on a more ominus intensity.

For Megan O`Malley, the new regional officer of the state criminal investigative unit, it is a test of whether she can cut it in the all-male world of local cops.

For police chief Mitch Holt, it is a frightening reminder of the big city crime that devastated his life before he fled to Deer Lake.