Protagonist: Detective Chief Superintendent Gregory Summers
Setting: present-day Hungerford, Berkshire, England
Series: #1

First Line: This was a place of sacrifice, two millennia ago.

It's almost time for the summer fair in Hungerford, and the New Agers and the Gypsies are already in place. Tensions between the townspeople and the travellers are already strained, and when six-year-old Jordan Abbot goes missing from her home in Hungerford, the situation becomes explosive. It's up to Superintendent Gregory Summers to keep the warring groups from killing each other and to discover what happened to the missing girl.

I can't remember where I learned about this series. Perhaps I have too many resources at my disposal. (Too many resources for a bookaholic? Nah!) Wherever it was, I owe that person a big thank you. The plot is compelling, the pace is swift and sure, and there were several wonderful characters to sink my reading teeth into. Gregory Summers is a complex and likeable copper, and I'm looking forward to learning more about him as I continue reading this series. ( )

It comes as a surprise when you finish reading this book to find that all the action takes place over 11 days.

People are gathering on Hungerford Common near the neolithic stone horsehoe in time for the summer solstice. There will be a traditional English fair with stalls, crafts, shire horses, food and drink. Romanies and new Age travellers are arriving with their gypsy caravans and campervans.

On the evening of 19th June DS Greg Summers is being held hostage by a grief stricken Romany who has just accidentally shot his wife dead. Her body lies on the floor in the B&B room where she and her children have been staying. Huwie Lee is holding DS Summers and the landlady hostage.

This is the first of a number of incidents in what will be an action filled week for Greg Summers. On the night before the summer solstice six year old Jordan Abbott who lives with her mother in the houses bordering the Common disappears, and local distrust of the gypsies surfaces.

THE LONE TRAVELLER is #1 in Susan Kelly's Gregory Summer series, and the author is rather obviously laying a lot of groundwork for an extended series. That doesn't make the story any less interesting, but I suspect it does mean that it will be worth attempting to read the books in order, which I intend to do. ( )