Death Ride

At the start of Oldham’s riveting 30th Henry Christie thriller (after 2022’s Demolition), retired police detective Christie, who now runs a combined pub and hotel in the English village of Kendleton and has been “press-ganged” into manning the information booth at the Kendleton Country Fair, approaches a couple arguing near the booth, where parents can inquire about lost children. Stepdad Dave West isn’t worried, but his wife, Melinda West, is, because Charlotte Kirkham, Melinda’s 13-year-old daughter, is missing and not answering her phone. Melinda’s alarm is magnified by her having witnessed a group of rowdy teenage boys harassing her daughter a short time before at the showground. Christie agrees to help and finds that one of the boys is the son of Leonard Lennox, who’s operating a food truck at the fair. Christie recalls that, in the early 1990s, he sent Lennox away for 12 years after Lennox abducted an eight-year-old girl in broad daylight. He assists former colleague Det. Sgt. Debbie Blackstone in the search for Charlotte, which proves unexpectedly complicated. Oldham makes Christie’s involvement credible while maintaining a nail-biting level of suspense. Despite its age, this series still has plenty of life left. Agent: Olav Wyper, SMS Talent (U.K.). (Mar.)