The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

At first, this mystery seems to be a missing person case: Wexford's doctor asks for help in finding his daughter, Melanie Akande, a recent college graduate who disappeared after going to her local unemployment office to find a job. The Akandes are an immigrant family from Nigeria, living in a rural area where only a handful of black people live. The woman who handled Melanie's case at the unemployment office, also young and black, is found murdered a few days later. Could the disappearance and the murder be connected? Wexford begins to face up to subtly racist attitudes.