Ruby Trick is an over-weight 10 year-old at a Devon primary school. Her workshy father sits at home dreaming of being a cowboy. When a serial killer strikes the flood-threatened village, John Trick acts out his fantasy by trying to form a posse to hunt down the killer. Ruby may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she is shrewd enough to suspect her father might be involved in the killings.

As well as Ruby and her fantasist father, we have a memorable cast of oddballs, including a lonely but perceptive teacher, a despondent and ineffective detective and an obsessive litter collector who is brought up short when he stumbles on one of the killer’s victims. In his full review, Andre commented on clever misdirection, a sense of brooding atmosphere worthy of Daphne du Maurier, superb characterisation, a scathing portrayal of local journalism, and a memorably tense finale.