Fiona Barton

Spent thirty years in newspapers, latterly as chief reporter at the Daily Mail, and left to teach journalism to refugees in Sri Lanka before writing fiction.

The Widow gives the story of a child's disappearance to the wife of the accused, and the reporter chasing her is drawn from the job Barton did for decades, including the part where getting the interview requires being a certain kind of person.

The Child and Local Gone Missing followed the same reporter. The books are unusually good on how a story is actually built and on what it costs the family at the centre.