by Lisa Jewell
First published 2021
A writer settles into a cottage beside the Dark Place, dense woods that border a grand English estate. She takes daily walks through these trees, drawn to their quiet mystery. One year earlier, a young woman and her boyfriend attended a party at the estate and never returned home. The couple simply vanished on that warm summer evening after celebrating with their new college friend. During one of her forest walks, the writer discovers a cryptic message scrawled on paper. Two words that could change everything: "DIG HERE." The note might hold the key to what happened to the missing students. Something lies buried in this soil, and the writer must decide whether to uncover secrets that someone desperately wanted hidden. The truth about that night waits beneath the earth.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Dark Place, England
Period: 1 Year Ago, Present Day
416 pages · Hardcover · Atria Books