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The disappearance of eight-year-old Daisy Mason from a costume party at her home in Oxford, England, drives this insidious, slow-moving novel—as horribly fascinating as a train wreck—from the pseudonymous Hunter. Oddly, no one can pinpoint when the girl was last seen. As the hours turn to days, Daisy’s vanishing galvanizes the community, with unexpected results. The lives of everyone—from her family and neighbors to the people at her school—are drawn into a web of deceit and rising tension. Det. Insp. Adam Fawley, the lead investigator, is awash in his own deep-seated troubles, while Daisy’s agitated father and disaffected mother clearly have something to hide. Even Daisy’s older brother, Leo, reacts strangely to the police and their questions, at times upset and other times curiously detached. The lack of clues rattles the police and public until torrents of social media accusations incite action. Hunter does a masterly job of building tension and keeping the reader guessing to the very end. Agent: Anna Power, Johnson & Alcock (U.K.). (Mar.)