Operation Vanished by Helen C. Escott

RCMP Corporal Gail McNaughton has just returned to her native Newfoundland to take up a position in the Major Crimes Unit of the local police detachment. Given the challenging task of investigating unsolved crimes from the 1950's, she befriends Larry Morgan, the son of one of the murdered women who is also employed as an historical archivist with the provincial government. Using old newspapers and other historical resources, Morgan is able to generate a list of unsuspecting people who could be placed in the area at the time of  his mother's murder. Little did he know that this list of powerful people could be linked to the locations of three other murders that McNaughton has found on her desk. As McNaughton attempts to prove her theory that a serial killer has been at work, she uncovers secrets that have been hidden for decades. Operation Vanished is an edge-of-your-seat crime thriller that spans the physical geography of rural Newfoundland. More than just an investigative crime story, it is the tale of lives lost, lives found and new life rediscovered.

Operation Vanished is the second crime thriller novel for Helen C. Escott. Written with the same investigative expertise that she became known for in Operation Wormwood, this is truly a missing persons novel readers will not be able to put down. The readers interest is piqued from the very first line of the very first chapter.

                      "Every time I think of that day, I remember it in black and white."

As the narrative unfolds Escott expertly weaves the tale from a child abduction case to the cases of other young murdered mothers, teachers and nurses. Though the plot is propelled by a series of different crimes, as well as through different settings, Escott is able to skillfully craft a connected sequence of events while periodically inserting just enough information to help the reader get to know the main character, Corporal Gail McNaughton. The result is a well executed storyline that pays respectful homage to murdered and missing women and children.

Operation Vanished was written by Escott "to shine a spotlight on missing children and women" and to ensure they will "never be forgotten". Though it is a fictional investigation that highlights an era when women were barely considered "persons" under the law, the imbalance of power that exists between men and women, children and adults is still relevant today and very much a recurring central idea in this story. Escott develops the main idea through the creation of cracker jack investigator Corporal Gail McNaughton. As the story evolves MacNaughton's backstory reveals an individual with her own internal challenges ranging from crippling episodes of PTSD  to waging a battle against the abuse of power in the still male dominated profession of policing. Likewise, the victims of the heinous crimes are all presented as strong influential women who were successful in their own right but casualties of their era and of a psychopathic mind. 

Operation Vanished is a powerful page-turner that will resonate with any reader who enjoys a good murder mystery. Helen C. Escott doesn't just seek justice and remembrance for female victims of crime but makes a brilliant attempt to emancipate them from the bonds of yesteryear. Operation Vanished is a Flanker Press publication.