Cover

Readers LOVE Amanda Brittany

‘I almost stood up to applaud the author’

‘Totally gripping’

‘I had to keep turning the pages – I couldn’t guess the ending, and I had to know!’

‘5 out of 5 stars. A real page turner with a brilliantly executed twist’

‘Yet another 5* thriller from Amanda Brittany’

‘Brittany is a superb writer, highly skilled at keeping you gripped, staying up late to uncover the secrets’

About the Author

AMANDA BRITTANY lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and two dogs. When she’s not writing, she loves spending time with family, walking, reading, and sunny days at the seaside. Her debut novel Her Last Lie reached the Kindle top 100 in the US and Australia and was a #1 bestseller in the UK. It has also been optioned for film. All her eBook royalties for Her Last Lie are being donated to Cancer Research UK, in memory of her sister who lost her battle with cancer in July 2017. It has so far raised almost £8,500.

Also by Amanda Brittany

Her Last Lie

Tell the Truth

Traces of Her

I Lie in Wait

Also by Karen Clarke and Amanda Brittany

The Secret Sister

The Perfect Nanny

The Island House

AMANDA BRITTANY

Dedication

For Ruby

Epigraph

Poison hemlock grows wild on Seafield Island. Proud, white flowering plants dance in the light breeze, reaching for the sun, held upright by purple-spotted stems.

Come closer, it calls to unsuspecting victims, giving away nothing of how deadly it is. Pick me.

PART ONE

‘Curiouser and curiouser!’

Lewis Carroll

Chapter 1

May 2017

Jan Walker steps into the inky darkness of the lobby at Flynn House, a musty smell snatching her breath away. She fumbles her phone from the pocket of her leather jacket, flicks on the torch.

‘It’s as though the place is dying,’ James says, coming in behind her.

Jan glances over her shoulder at her assistant in the doorway. ‘Bit dramatic.’ She won’t say she feels it too. She wants this commission. But, truth is, stepping into this sad, dilapidated building, after walking across the beach in the brilliant sunshine, has made her uneasy.

‘I’ve got a bad vibe about this place.’ There’s a tremor in James’s voice. He’s in his mid-twenties, younger than her by ten years. ‘We shouldn’t even be here. Let’s come back another time with the owner.’

It’s true she has yet to be officially invited to view the house. But they were passing through Dunwold, and she wanted to take a look. She swings the torch beam across the hallway. ‘It’s good money,’ she says. ‘I can’t afford to pass this up.’ She lifts the light towards a grand staircase leading to a second floor. A thick, frayed rope hangs from the banister.

‘And that’s not freaky at all,’ James says, not moving from his frozen spot.