Missing babies in Johannesburg, and nobody cares. Maliha Anderson and her entourage travel to South Africa to return Riette's baby to the father's family on what should be a simple mission of mercy. But they are soon embroiled in race politics and something even darker: Children are disappearing but no one cares because they are black. In a battle against a vast subversive power Maliha discovers the worst horrors that man can commit, and struggles to bring the true perpetrators to justice. But what can one woman do? In a past that never was, the fifth book in the Maliha Anderson series explores a new land, new people and new relationships, with vivid descriptions, intriguing characters, and crisp, elegant prose.