The Drowning Place

Seventeen years ago, a school bus left the road near Edenscar, a town in the Peak District, and everyone on board drowned except one boy, Joseph Ashe. His survival has haunted him and the town ever since. Now a detective sergeant with the local police, Joe is called to a brutal killing that seems to make no sense: no trace of the killer, no obvious motive, and a community already inclined to believe in ghosts.

His new boss, DI Laurie Bower, comes from inner-city policing and has no patience for superstition. She wants a real killer, and the pair must work through Edenscar's secrets, old and new. Sarah Hilary, author of the Marnie Rome novels, opens a new series with a police procedural that carries a cold supernatural chill. It suits anyone who likes crime rooted in place and grief, and a little unsettling after dark.