First published 2022
Cyrus Haven is a forensic psychologist in Nottingham with a specific problem: his brother Elias is walking out of a secure psychiatric hospital after twenty years. Elias murdered their family. Cyrus survived by hiding. Now he has to decide what, if anything, he owes the man who took everything from him. Before he can settle that question, a case pulls him away. A man is found dead and his daughter Maya has vanished. Then a second woman disappears. The only witness Cyrus has is Evie Cormac, a troubled teenager who can detect lies with unnerving accuracy. It is a strange gift, and it is about to become essential. Both missing women are carrying secrets. Cyrus has to dig through those secrets fast, because time is running out. Meanwhile Elias is back, and the past does not stay quiet just because you want it to. Cyrus knows this better than anyone. So does Evie. The case and the homecoming press against each other, and Cyrus has to hold steady in both directions at once.
Genres: suspense, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, psychological-thriller, mystery-thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, haunting, intense, psychological, suspenseful
Tropes: family-secrets, past-haunting-present, troubled-teen-protagonist, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Nottingham
Period: 21st-century, contemporary
352 pages · Paperback · Hachette Australia
Content warnings: child-abuse, mental-illness, murder