The case of Madeleine McCann, the little British girl who disappeared on 3 May 2007 while on holiday in the Portuguese Algarve with her parents, siblings and a group of her parents' friends and their children has attracted unprecedented media, political and diplomatic attention. Gonçalo Amaral had been a detective for 27 years and was in charge of the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance from the apartment the family had rented in the town of Praia da Luz until he was replaced in 2 October 2007. He claims the decision to take him off the case was as unprecedented as it was unjustified. He believes the decision was political because he was never convinced that Madeleine was kidnapped and felt the investigation was being sidetracked down costly and ultimately fruitless paths because of all the media attention, the political pressure and the determination of the girl's parents to concentrate on the kidnapping theory - despite, in his opinion, none of the evidence indicating a kidnap and, indeed, there being some forensic evidence the seemed to suggest someone had died in the apartment. The book makes for a fascinating read, a real insight into a police investigation carried out under an intense media spotlight and with the eyes of the world, and its governments, constantly bearing down on the police officers charged with solving the mystery. Allegedly.