The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore

The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore is a 1979 young adult mystery novel by Joan Lowery Nixon. Written in a straightforward, first-person narrative that confines the reader’s understanding of the story to the perspective of the main character, the book won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery in 1980.

Christina Lattimore and her friend Lorna discuss the upcoming school trip to France. The entire class is going, but Christina doesn’t have the money for the trip—which is ironic, because she comes from a wealthy family. Her grandmother, Christabel, is the matriarch of an oil-rich business, and her parents, though distant and rigid, are also well off. Christabel has established a trust fund for Christina but refuses to take money from it for the trip.

Christina, a junior in high school, is wracked with self-doubt. Uncertain who she is or if she offers any value to the world, she finds it difficult to express herself. She spends time with Lorna at the local diner, trying to figure out ways she might raise money for the trip. While sitting there, Christina finds the manager of the restaurant, Zack, staring at her and whispering to his wife, Loretta. Christina is uncomfortable.



When Christina goes home, she is disturbed to notice that tape has been placed over the lock on the door, meaning the door does not latch. She asks her mother and their maid, Della, whether anyone has been in the house. Both claim nothing strange has happened. Unsatisfied, Christina heads out to do some shopping. When she returns, someone comes up behind her. They struggle, and Christina bites his hand, but he drugs her.

Christina awakes in a dark basement. A man wearing a mask comes downstairs. His hand is bandaged so she knows he is the man she struggled with. He is also wearing a wedding ring. When he puts a piece of paper in front of her and demands she sign it, she recognizes his voice as Zack from the diner. The paper is a ransom demand.

Christina is afraid, but also determined and very smart. She pays attention to everything, and on her second night in the basement, she finds a screwdriver and uses it to pry open the door. As she creeps up the stairs, she notices through the window that Zack has arrived with the police. Loretta appears, threatening Christina with a gun, but then throws the gun at her and runs away.



When the police come in with Zack, Christina, holding the gun for self-defense, is horrified to be arrested. She learns that her family paid the ransom, but Zack is claiming that she was involved in the kidnapping and that the gun she was holding is, in fact, her father’s gun. Christina realizes that this is why there was tape on the door lock—they were stealing her father’s gun. Zack tells the police the kidnapping was Christina’s idea to get the money she needed for the class trip.

Christina is interviewed by Detective York, assisted by her lawyer, and meets Kelly, a newspaper reporter who, initially, is the only person who believes she is not involved. Detective York, coming to this conclusion as well, brings Christina home. Christina, horrified to find that her own family believes she planned the whole thing for the trip money, is determined to prove her innocence. Kelly helps Christina investigate on her own, following clues. Christina knows someone else must have been involved because Zack and Loretta knew intimate details of her home and life. Christina encounters Rosella, her father’s secretary, and is uncomfortable because Rosella is acting suspiciously—though it might be because Rosella thinks Christina is a criminal. Christina then encounters Della, who warns her against playing detective and tells her not to trust Kelly, because he must want something from her. Detective York also tries to convince Christina that her investigation is dangerous.

When Christina receives a threatening phone call, she stops going to school. Kelly contacts her and tells her he believes the third kidnapper is her grandmother, Christabel, Rosella, or Della. Christina tells him she has a plan. She calls Zack and arranges a meeting, telling him she knows what’s happening, then follows him to see if he’ll lead her to the third person. When she gets out of her car to follow him into an apartment building, she is grabbed from behind—but it turns out to be Kelly, who doesn’t want her entering the house because of the danger.



Christina hatches a second plan. She goes to visit Loretta and pressures her, knowing that she is conflicted. Loretta confesses that her husband, Zack, served prison time with Della’s son, and the two came up with the kidnapping plan. Della, her son, Zack, and Loretta are all arrested for the crime. Christina’s family now knows she was telling the truth, and Christina finds a new sense of self-worth and self-confidence because she stood up for herself.