THE MUST-READ CRIME DEBUT OF 2025 FROM THE MIND BEHIND BROADCHURCH AND DOCTOR WHO

Small-town secrets, a detective running out of time, and the killer hiding in plain sight.

'A masterclass whodunnit' Gillian McAllister
'Everything I love in a crime novel' Jennie Godfrey
'As unputdownable as you'd expect from the writer of Broadchurch' Jenny Colgan

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When Nicola Bridge moves back to Dorset after years as a CID detective in the big city, the last thing she expects is for the picturesque village of Fleetcombe to become a grisly crime scene.

Jim Tiernan, landlord of the White Hart pub, has been found dead, the body staged with macabre relish on an isolated country road. As soon as she starts asking questions, Nicola realises everyone in the village has something to hide.

Frankie, the hairdresser who isn't a skilled enough actor to conceal they're lying about the night of the murder.

Eddie, the delivery driver whose heart starts racing every time he drives past the crime scene.

Deakins, the embittered farmer still living in the shadow of a supposedly murderous ancestor.

And even the little girl, hidden at the top of the playground slide, who's watching them all.

Whispers.

Rumours. Lies. But Nicola knows that somewhere among them, a killer is hiding in plain sight.

Because sometimes the smallest villages hide the darkest secrets...