Deceptive encounters - Karen J. Jones

A forensic science-based adventure novel for children, which closely supports the National Curriculum for Science at Key Stages 2 and 3. It incorporates a scientific glossary of terms used in the text and is suitable for general reading or as a ‘science lesson reading book’. Schoolgirls Emma Waldron and Lauren Bale find themselves implicated in a manslaughter and missing person investigation as their plans for a clandestine overnight beach party with friend, Jamie Jackson, take an unexpected turn for the worst. An injury sustained whilst rock-climbing, during an afternoon of truanting, forces the two young girls to shelter overnight in a cave at the tiny seaside resort of Longbarrow. It is here that they stumble upon their fugitive teacher, Luke Michael, who is in hiding, following a recent hit-and-run incident. A chance discovery of an amputated foot, found in a lobster pot by a local trawlerman, and a hair wrapped around a button on a blouse worn by Lauren, leads Detective Constable Steve Turnbull, and Crime Scene Investigator, Alexia Stermont, to join forces and embark on the trail of forensic evidence, ranging from fingerprinting and toxicology to DNA profiling; thus helping to solve the case of a missing teenager.