Breakfast At Libraries

There are strong echoes of this set-up in Hazel Barkworth's Heatstroke. Rachel teaches at a secondary school, which her own daughter, Mia, also attends. One weekend, Mia has a sleepover with her usual clique, but one of them, Lily, doesn't come along. Except Lily's mother thinks that she has, and it soon becomes clear that Lily has disappeared. Does Mia know where Lily is - or, perhaps more importantly, with whom? And why is Rachel's obsession with the case so claustrophobically intense? Is it because she's been having an illicit relationship with a man of her own, while her husband works overseas? 
As the title suggests, Heatstroke is set during a swelteringly hot summer, in the build-up to the end of the school term, and the oppressive, steamy heat is a suitable backdrop for a story of passion, obsession and envy. It's more than a thriller, though - in fact, the actual plot is fairly straightforward and doesn't develop especially quickly. It also explores…