“I was only gone a half hour. When I came back, he was gone.”

Puppeteer Bob Harker has wandered the grey sands of Weston-Super-Mare for as long as anyone can remember, peddling his own brand of Punch’n’Judy to tourists and locals alike. Now, according to Reggie Bowles, his best friend, Bob Harker is dead.

The only problem is that Bob’s body has disappeared.

Convinced by Reggie to investigate both Bob’s death and subsequent disappearance, private investigator John “Slim” Hardy finds himself with a tricky case on his hands.

Not only can he find no trace of Bob Harker, but it turns out that the man’s life was almost as mysterious as his death.

If indeed Bob is even dead…

From the author of The Man by the Sea and The Clockmaker’s Secret, comes a twisting mystery that will keep you reading all night.

Published
November 20, 2025
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Additional book details

Author

Jack Benton

Chris Ward (writing as Jack Benton) hails from Cornwall in the UK. Since 2003 he has lived and worked in Japan where he is married and owns two cats.At age eleven, he won a competition for a short story. He wrote his first novel at the age of 18 and published his first professional short story in Weird Tales 352 in 2008. In 2012 he published his first novel, The Tube Riders. Since then he has published a further seven novels to positive reviews and acclaim.In addition to writing, he enjoys travelling, hiking in summer, snowboarding in winter, and plays guitar in a local rock band.