by Helen Phifer
Faced with a killer stalking the streets of her small coastal town, while also throwing herself into work to forget the love of her life, Lucy’s first case is turning into a nightmare.
Linking the killer to the church where her own teenage daughter volunteers, it seems the threat is quickly drawing closer to Lucy and those she loves. Can she catch this monster and prevent a tragedy that will tear her world apart?
An addictive and unputdownable crime thriller that will hook fans of Patricia Gibney, LJ Ross and Angela Marsons from the very first page.
Order here!
Acknowledgements
Thank you so much for taking Morgan Brookes into your heart and loving her adventures. Rydal Falls is indeed a real place, it’s a beautiful waterfall a short walk away from Rydal Mount, which was the place that poet William Wordsworth called home. The Rydal Falls where Morgan Brookes and Ben Matthews live and work is a fictitious town, half the size of Kendal and Barrow. Many Cumbrians, especially Barrovians, will recognise street names and places which I beg, borrow and steal. I hope you don’t mind, it’s so much easier writing about the places that I know and have visited.
A huge thank you goes to my fabulous editor, Emily Gowers, she is amazing and such a dream to work with. Thank you, Emily, for taking the first drafts of my books with open arms and not flinging them straight back at me or throwing them in the bin. It takes a brave person to read a first draft of a book and not cry at the work ahead. Emily, in the words of Tina Turner, ‘You’re Simply the Best’.
The hugest of thanks goes to the amazing publicity team at Bookouture, who work above and beyond to get our books out there. I’m so privileged to work with Noelle Holten; thank you, Noelle, for always having my back on cover reveal and publication days when I seem to always end up at work, another rendition from Tina for you because you’re also ‘Simply the Best’. Huge thanks also to Kim Nash for taking such good care of her writers, and the lovely Sarah Hardy.
A huge debt of gratitude goes to the rest of the team at Bookouture, who make all of this a reality. So much work goes on behind the scenes to make a book sparkle and shine, from the hugely talented design team to the copy editors and proofreaders. I’m so thankful that I get to work with you all, it really is a dream come true. I’d also like to say a huge thank you to the team at Audio Factory who turn my stories into the audio books that you can listen to. A special thank you to Alison Campbell for always bringing my characters and stories to life. You’re extremely talented not to mention fabulous.
Another special thank you goes to all the wonderful book bloggers and advance readers who are absolutely amazing. That you take the time to read my books and champion them makes my heart swell with gratitude. There are far too many of you to name, and I would hate to miss someone off because I have such a terrible memory (most days I don’t remember what my kids are called). But please know that I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.
As always, a special thank you goes to my family for providing me with entertainment and lots of love. I’m amazed I find the time to write these books because you all keep me so busy. I love you all very much; keep being the wonderful, crazy, loving humans that you are.
Can I thank coffee? I feel as if I should because without it my brain wouldn’t function. So, a special shoutout to the wonderful baristas who provide my brain fuel with such smiles on your faces and gentle words of encouragement.
Where would we be without friends? It doesn’t bear thinking about. So, thank you to my wing gals Sam Thomas and Tina Sykes for always being there for our group chats on Messenger. Hopefully, it won’t be long before we can get back to our weekly coffee shop staff meetings.
I’d also like to thank my writing friends who have seen me through thick and thin, answered my really stupid questions and supported me from day one. Jo Bartlett, Jessica Redland, Sharon Booth, Jackie Ladbury, Rachel Thomas, Alex Weston, Deirdre Palmer, Helen J. Rolfe and Lynne Davies. Look how far we’ve come, ladies, from dreaming about being published writers to bestselling writers. We are proof that if you follow your dreams, never give up and keep on going you can achieve anything you want with a lot of hard work in between.
This last year has been incredibly tough for everyone. The world and our lives changed beyond our wildest dreams and fears but we’ve managed to hang on, there’s light at the end of the tunnel and we’re almost there. Keep smiling, keep taking care of yourself and each other, be kind to yourself and know that you are loved.
Love Helen xx
Published by Bookouture in 2021
An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Helen Phifer, 2021
Helen Phifer has asserted her right to be identified
as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-80019-600-1
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
