Product Description

A trail of blood winding through a squalid flat in Margate leads DCI Dave Gosworth to the body of Jacqui Jennings, her skull smashed with a chisel. For Dave it is just the start of a long and puzzling case...Forty miles away in South London a young single mother named Melanie Stenning is blissfully unaware of Jacqui's life and death. But that trail of blood will one day lead straight to her door - with terrifying repercussions. For Melanie is about to fall in love with a stranger...Fourteen months later, Melanie has a new husband, a new baby and a new home on the isolated Kent coast. But when her seven-year-old daughter Poppy disappears, she is forced to question everything in her new life, including the man she loves. Because DCI Dave Goswrth has come knocking - with some chilling questions...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #454173 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Katy Gardner teaches social anthroplogy at the University of Sussex. She lives in Brighton with her husband and three children. This is her third novel, following Losing Gemma and The Mermaid's Purse.

Customer Reviews

One of the best psychological thrillers I've read for ages
I had high hopes for this book as soon as I spotted it in the shop, and it totally lived up to my expectations. It's brilliantly structured, immaculately plotted, and the heroine is a compelling, flawed, sympathetic and well-realised character who really draws us into her mind and heart so that we identify with her completely. The setting is brilliantly realised, and the feeling of fear, of the ground constantly shifting, of creeping uncertainty being everywhere, is skilfully evoked. There's a great twist at the end (which I must admit I guessed), and, even more impressively, there's a brilliant final section from the point of view of the policeman which is the perfect end to the book, and which made me realise how many books have disappointing endings. Utterly gripping from start to finish.

A slow burn
This is one of those novels that somehow creeps up on you and gets under your skin, almost without you knowing it. From the outset there's an underlying feeling of tension which, even in the more upbeat moments, is there swirling around the edges. It's not a fast paced thriller but it is nevertheless skillfully written and draws you in with well-rounded characters, a beautifully flawed heroine and nicely played crescendo.

Gripping from the start
I dont usually care for books about children because they are either twee or descend into horror, but this plot was good from the beginning and even though I guessed the ending a few paragraphs before the finish, this didn't detract from the neat and clever plot one bit. Read and enjoy!!!