The Subtle Thief of Youth By D. J. Wiseman Askance, £10

(Askance, £10)

A storm of biblical proportions stirs the sleepy twin villages of Whyncombe St. Giles and Germans into confronting the mysterious disappearance of a local girl whose life and apparent death had cast a dark shadow over the local population.

Wiseman uses the weather as a metaphor for the emotional extremes created by the discovery of the remains of Melanie-Anne Staples. Then comes the gradual realisation that the unprecedented deluge has probably washed away a second young life.

His earlier novel, A Habit of Dying, featured family history sleuth Lydia Silverstream, but his latest detective story follows a different track as the oppressive and unprecedented summer heat evokes the growing pressure felt by the cast of suspects.

Persistent police questioning uncovers dark and long forgotten secrets, while the freak storm acts as an emotional release for the suppressed suspicions of those whose lives had been changed by events 11 years earlier.

The references to Oxfordshire bring familiarity to the settings, but the list of suspects is more Midsomer Murders than Insp Morse. From the stoic vicar and his wicked wife to the repressed farmer and the out-of-town family with a secretive past, we have a classic list of characters that would comfortably test the investigative skills of Insp Barnaby.

As with any good murder mystery, the reader is led down several blind alleys until we reach the surprising denouement. However, the whodunnit is made credible as the author brings us to the eureka moment by cleverly mixing the past with the present to give a balanced picture of the place and time.

Ultimately, though this is a tragic tale of the spirit of youth being extinguished by the emotional corruption of adulthood.

The author, who lives in West Oxfordshire, will sign copies in Waterstones, Oxford, in March.