200,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

Black Friday Sale on Now! Save up to 25% off Books, Toys, Board Games, & Puzzles! ✨

When You Looked Away

Brief Description
It's every mother's worst nightmare. Your son is gone. And everyone's a suspect - even you... a page-turning new thriller from the author of Believe. Laura's a good mother. Between her messy divorce with her ex-husband and moving in with her new fiancé, her son Benjy... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3800
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

It's every mother's worst nightmare. Your son is gone. And everyone's a suspect - even you... a page-turning new thriller from the author of Believe.

Laura's a good mother. Between her messy divorce with her ex-husband and moving in with her new fiancé, her son Benjy has been her constant. But now that they're settled, Laura is excited to throw herself back into work. Being a mother is fulfilling, but Laura has always felt that writing is her true calling. Her ultimate escape.

Until that fateful day. The afternoon starts like any other. Laura picks Benjy up from school, then heads upstairs to write. It's not until the sun is setting that she realises the house is quiet. Too quiet.

It's not until she sees the footprints in the garden that she knows something is terribly wrong. One set is undeniably Benjy's. It's the other set that strikes fear in her heart - those of an adult. Someone who took her son, right from under her nose...

Series: The DI Stratton Series

View all
  • When You Looked Away
    It's every mother's worst nightmare. Your son is gone. And everyone's a suspect - even you... a page-turning new thriller from the author of Believe. Laura's a good mother. Between her messy divorce with her ex-husband and moving in with her new fiancé, her son Benjy has been her constant. But now that they're settled, Laura is excited to throw...
    Paperback
    $3800
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241765159

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 09 July 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Michael Joseph Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 502g

Pages: 400

About the Author

S.M. Govett read Law at Trinity College, Oxford, before qualifying as a solicitor in the City. After realising that didn't suit her, she started tutoring before turning her hand to writing, which she discovered was her true calling. She has since authored several bestselling YA novels, including The Territory trilogy and We Go On Forever. She also co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film, T.I.M., which was the no. 1 film on Netflix upon release. Believe is her debut adult thriller. She currently lives in London with her husband and three children.

Also by S.M. Govett

View all
  • On Sale
    26% off
    Believe
    The edge-of-your-seat, knock-out psychological thriller of 2025 that everyone will be talking about. Natalie has spent ten years trying to get over the two events which changed her life forever. The first— the moment her boss assaulted her. The second— the moment the jury declared him innocent—and her, a liar. So when her husband, Ryan, gets accused of the same...
    Paperback
    $2800
    Usually:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Believe
    The edge-of-your-seat, knock-out psychological thriller that everyone will be talking about. Natalie has spent ten years trying to get over the two events which changed her life forever. The first - the moment her boss assaulted her. The second - the moment the jury declared him innocent, and her, a liar. So when her husband, Ryan, gets accused of the...
    Paperback
    $2800
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Browse lists from our team

More from Crime & Thriller

View all
  • New Release
    Adam and Eve
    THE FINAL NOVEL FROM THE MASTER STORYTELLER Armistice Day 1918. Two children are born on the same day, hours – but worlds – apart. One the son of a shepherd, the other the daughter of an Earl. Adam and Eve. Their births mark the end of one war. Their love will change the outcome of another. 'If there were a...
    $3900
    Elsewhere:
    $4999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    King’s Ransom
    Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller. A DARING ABDUCTION The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children. THE DEADLY CHALLENGE The kidnapper's demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • King’s Ransom
    On Sale
    18% off
    New Release
    King’s Ransom
    Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller. A DARING ABDUCTION The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children. THE DEADLY CHALLENGE The kidnapper's demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing...
    Hardback
    $3700
    Elsewhere:
    $4999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The French Illusion
    Bestselling author John Grisham delivers a new gripping, suspenseful page-turner about aParis honeymoon gone horribly wrong - and the nightmare that follows. After Paul and Chelsea Tanner's fairytale wedding, their future is full of promise. But their honeymoon to Paris takes a dark, shocking turn when they are kidnapped while on a day trip to the French countryside. Who would...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Chain Reaction
    Jack Reacher, \"the coolest continuing series character\" (Stephen King), returns in a brand new, pulse-pounding read from Lee and Andrew Child. The world’s bestselling hero is back in a brand new, high-octane adventure! ‘She knew that finding Reacher would not be easy . . .’ Washington DC. General Susan Turner needs help from the only guy she knows will get...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Family Cross
    In the gripping new thriller in James Patterson's globally bestselling series, Alex Cross faces his most personal case yet as a ruthless conspiracy targets Washington's most vulnerable... and his own family. Discover the latest gripping thriller in the globally bestselling Alex Cross series - now the inspiration for the original series CROSS on Prime Video starring Aldis Hodge as Alex...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Heights
    In The Heights by #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sir Ian Rankin, murder comes to London's most exclusive high-rise - and every resident is a suspect... MURDER COMES TO LONDON'S MOST LUXURIOUS HIGH-RISE: AND EVERY RESIDENT IS A SUSPECT. The Heights: a gleaming, high-end high-rise looming over Hyde Park. Newly built from steel and smoked glass, it is a billionaire's playground offering sumptuous suites...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    26% off
    New Release
    Death Row
    With all hope of an appeal fading away, the fate of a condemned murderess takes a shocking turn in a breathtaking short story from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Housemaid! A thrilling novella from #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden! Death is coming for her… unless she finds the truth first. Talia Kemper is on death row for murdering...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Signed Copy
    On Sale
    12% off
    Dying Days
    Award-winning writer delivers a pulse-pounding espionage thriller. Missing soldiers, MI6 secrets and European partisans collide in a deadly game where the lines between lies and reality are fast disintegrating. In the dying days of the Second World War, a new conflict is about to ignite. May, 1945: After fighting to liberate Europe from the Nazis, Tito's Yugoslav Army and Allied...
    Paperback
    $2800
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    22% off
    New Release
    Fury In Death: An Eve Dallas thriller (In Death 63)
    In the new crime thriller from the bestselling author, Lt. Eve Dallas journeys into the darkness where murder is born… NYSPD homicide detective Eve Dallas has seen a lot in her time but even she is shocked by the savagery of a beating which leaves a wealthy biotech executive dead in his home office. The victim’s corpse is so mangled...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    25% off
    New Release
    Tom Clancy Pressure Depth
    Jack Ryan Jr leads a team of divers in a race to beat the Chinese Navy to a weapon of terrible destructive power in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. Jack Ryan Jr. is on Guam to work on a project for Hendley Associates. It's a perfectly ordinary insurance matter, but trouble finds the Ryans...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Country Road Murders
    On Sale
    13% off
    The Country Road Murders
    From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a pulse-pounding thriller about justice, vengeance and the roads that lead us home. No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades — LEE CHILD Cross Rivers is the kind of small town where everyone knows your name – and your secrets. Silas Tucker...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 200,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.