However, questions are also raised about Bec’s financial management of the department’s accounts in Athens: is she being paranoid or is someone framing her as not only incompetent but fraudulent? As her hitherto charmed life begins to unravel, Bec heads to Greece, Italy, and Paris in a desperate effort to understand the forces at work against her. However, while holidaying on the Amalfi coast, Stephen disappears, his absence thus intensifying Bec’s bewildered sense of betrayal and loss and her need to excavate the layers of mystery and deceit.

The Lost Swimmer is a tense, evocative, and absorbing tale of trust and betrayal. There is enough grit in the evocation of character, motivations, and relationships to ensure that this genre thriller is a compulsive reading experience.