Creeping Ivy [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Natasha Cooper (Author), Hilary Neville (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2010

Every mother's worst nightmare is the disappearance of her child. When Antonia Weblock's four-year-old daughter Charlotte vanishes from the local playground, even her enemies are sympathetic.

The police pull out all the stops to find Charlotte, asking the questions that are in everyone's mind: Did she wander off, or was she kidnapped? Is her seemingly devoted nanny not telling the whole truth? Why wasn't her stepfather looking after her as he'd promised? And where was her real father when she went missing?

Vilified by the tabloids for putting her child at risk for the sake of her successful London career, Antonia turns to her cousin Trish Maguire for help. As a barrister specializing in cases involving children, Trish knows exactly what can happen to them at the hands of abusive adults. She is prepared to do everything she can to find out what happened to Charlotte. But no one who knows the child can be above suspicion, and it is not long before Trish herself comes to the attention of the police.

In Trish Maguire, Natasha Cooper has created a memorable character whose strong ideals and fierce intelligence belie her private torments and vulnerability. Creeping Ivy is a menacing story of manipulation and betrayal that will stay in the mind long after the book is finished.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

After her small daughter disappears, Antonia asks her cousin Trish, a child-specialist lawyer, for help. Oddly enough, police suspicion falls on Trish. More excellent storytelling from the creator of the Willow King series (The Drowning Pool).
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Something different from the author of the seven British cozies starring civil servant/novelist Willow King (Sour Grapes, 1998, etc.): a thriller asking whether, when Antonia Weblock's daughter Charlotte disappears from the playground, it was really such a good idea for Antonia to call her cousin Trish Maguire, a barrister specializing in child-abuse cases, for help. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Soundings Audio Books; Unabridged edition (February 1, 2010)
• ISBN-10: 1407917005
• ISBN-13: 978-1407917009
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent psychological suspense, July 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Creeping Ivy (Hardcover)

In a London park, four-year old Charlotte Weblock mysteriously vanishes when her nanny becomes distracted for a moment. The media blasts Charlotte's mother renowned banker Antonia for leaving much of the care of her child with a nanny. Though the child may have wandered off by herself, law enforcement officials believe someone abducted the little girl.

The police find several suspects close to the victim's family who have the motive and the means to carry out a kidnapping. They investigate the nanny and Charlotte's stepfather, both of who had ample opportunity. They look into the background of Charlotte's biological father too. Finally, the police make inquiries into Trish Maguire, Antonia's cousin. Trish, a crusading barrister, specializes in child abuses cases. Trish, a former victim of abuse, begins her own inquiry into what happened to Charlotte.

Natasha Cooper, author of the Willow King mysteries, shows the width and depth of her talent by taking a turn into an entirely different type of story line. CREEPING IVY is an intelligently written psychological thriller that puts its' focus on a parent's worst nightmare. However, the well-designed plot actually centers on the investigation by Trish, which leads her to never accept the external mask of anyone ever again. Readers will want more stories starring Trish, a wonderful protagonist.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This is a "cozy"?, August 28, 2004

By 

Diane Davis (San Ramon, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creeping Ivy (Hardcover)

Although I love a chilling psychological mystery (Ruth Rendell rules), sometimes nothing hits the spot like a good old-fashioned British cozy with characters suitable for a game of "Clue" and a victim who's usually unbereavble by all -including the reader. I picked up this book because a blurb said the author was a master of the genre. What I found was a crime that simply cannot make the transition to "entertainment" in my mind(child abduction/pronography/molestation/murder)along with uniformly cold, unlikeable characters and a cynical attitude that must have Agatha Christie twirling in her grave.
Not a pleasant read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed by ending, September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Creeping Ivy (Hardcover)

While this was a very good book, I was quite disappointed by the ending. It wasn't fulfilling enough. After reading it all day and breathlessly waiting for the climax to a kidnapping story, I felt let down. I'm not sure if I'll read any of Natasha Cooper's other books.