| Synopsis: |
[Hayder] has in no way lost her ability to shock, thrill, entertain and occasionally torture us with her use of words. . . . A chiller to the very end. Hayder deals with Britain at its grittiest. Peter Millar, "The Times" (London) Mo Hayder is a world-class author of gritty, gripping page-turners, winner of the Dagger in the Library from the Crime Writers Association for outstanding body of work. With her latest novel, she ratchets up the terror to fever pitch. Fast-paced and addictive, "Hanging Hill" centers around a pair of estranged sistersone a cop, one a coddled wife fallen on hard timesand the gruesome homicide of a teenage beauty, which exposes the nightmares that lurk at the edges of our safe domestic lives. One morning in picture-perfect Bath, England, a teenage girl s body is found on the towpath of a canal. Lorne Woodbeautiful, popular, and apparently the victim of a disturbingly brutal murder. Why was she on the towpath alone late at night? Zoe BenedictHarley-riding police detective, independent to a faultis convinced the department head needs to look beyond the usual domestic motives to solve the case, but no one wants to hear it, especially from the department s black sheep. Meanwhile, Zoe s sister, Sallyrecently divorced and in dire financial straits, supporting a daughter who was friends with the dead girlhas begun working as a housekeeper for a rich entrepreneur who seems less eccentric and more repugnant, and possibly dangerous. And why are his sinister associates showing up at her daughter s school? When Zoe s investigation turns up evidence that Lorne s attempts to break into modeling had delivered her into the world of webcam girls and amateur porn, a crippling secret from Zoe s past seems determined to emerge. All roads seem to be leading to one conclusion: there s something very wrong at the house on Hanging Hill. But will Zoe and Sally put their differences aside and fit all the pieces together before it s too late? "Hanging Hill" is a masterful, terrifying book that will have readers sleeping with the lights on." |