Cover reveal! The Devil’s Claw…
THIS is going to be a good one. Set on Guernsey, the darkness and remoteness of this setting is now a trap, a cage, a place where a woman has drowned and where a patter of similar deaths reveals itself….Oh I was dead excited to be asked to do this cover reveal as I am very very excited about this one. You need this book!
Jennifer Dorey thinks she is safe.
Following a traumatic incident in London, Jennifer has returned to her childhood home in Guernsey, taking a job as a reporter at the local newspaper.
After the discovery of a drowned woman on a beach, she uncovers a pattern of similar deaths that have taken place over the past fifty years.
Together with DCI Michael Gilbert, an officer on the verge of retirement, they follow a dark trail of island myths and folklore to ‘Fritz’, the illegitimate son of a Nazi soldier. His work, painstakingly executed, has so far gone undetected.
But with his identity about to be uncovered, the killer now has Jennifer in his sights.
The book comes out in November 2017 but take it from us…you’re going to want this on your TBR pile..and it’s not going to stay there for long! It reveals an investigation which exposes the island’s historical scars, a murder mystery interwoven with local tradition and folklore and a brilliantly eery and chilling setting – Guernsey as you’ve never seen it before!
Prologue
She is looking forward to going out. It has been so long since there has been anything to look forward to. Her new top is black and made of a satiny material. It feels cool against her skin. It has short sleeves and a low neckline. It is a cold night but she will take a jacket. When she gets to the bar, she will take it off and let her friends see.
It is time to let them see.
The scars run from the inside of her elbow down to her wrist. She traces her finger along one. It is palest pink now. Almost silver. And very, very fine. Because she never cut deep. Just often.
Her hair is long and curly. It needs a wash. She brushes and braids it. The braid hangs over her shoulder. It looks cute. A little girl’s hairstyle. Boys like that sort of thing. She remembers reading it in a magazine. You have to be young enough to pull it off though. And thin. And pretty. Lucky for her she is all three.
It is getting late. Mum offers to drive her but she says no. It is just an excuse to check up on her. She’d rather walk, she says, but when she gets outside it is colder than she’d thought. After walking for five minutes she decides to turn back. She will put on a jumper and tell mum she’d like a lift. But then the car pulls alongside her. The window slides down. She doesn’t need her mum after all.
A rush of cold air brings her round. She can’t see properly. Her head is throbbing. She is in the car but it is not moving. She blinks, tries to clear her vision. She remembers. He had a gun. He had a gun and he hit her with it. He hit her so hard she blacked out and now there is blood in her eyes and in her mouth and she tries to open it, to scream but she can’t. It’s stuck fast and before she can figure out how to unstick it, he is there.
He is opening the door.
Her wrists are bound with silver tape. It shines in the moonlight. She was scared, before he hit her, before she blacked out. She was scared but too polite to try to get out of the car.
He is pulling her out.
She is terrified. He is going to rape and kill her. She is going to die because she was too polite.
He is standing in front of her. He is smiling. And he is making noises.
He is humming.
She screams with her mouth shut, screams until her throat burns, pushing the sound through her nose and flailing her arms, uselessly and he pushes her against the car and squeezes her throat until the pathetic noise she was making is silenced, replaced by a soundless trail of snot and blood.
He is stroking her hair. Fingering the pretty braid, the one she thought the boys would like. She whimpers. He leans in, puts his cheek next to hers. She feels his breath, damp and warm on her skin.
He is whispering.
Hush. Hush now. I’m going to help you.
He leads her through the night and she stumbles and she cries and then he pushes her.
Down.
Into the darkness.
