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The Drowning Lesson
The Drowning Lesson
Oct 21, 2024 9:39 PM

Author:Jane Shemilt

The Drowning Lesson

The chilling, gripping thriller from the author of the stunning Richard and Judy Book Club bestseller Daughter

'It's our son, Sam . . . someone took him. Please help us'

Emma hoped that she and her family would return from their year abroad closer, with memories to last a lifetime.

Instead, they returned minus one child.

A year on, Emma is haunted by their son's disappearance, and feels further than ever from her husband.

Is their child still out there somewhere?

Will the mystery about what happened that night ever be unravelled?

And, if the truth does come to light, will Emma's family be healed - or wrenched even further apart?

Reviews

A dark twisty tale

—— Heat

Gripping tale

—— Telegraph, Pick of the Week

A gripping read about a family whose hopeful adventure turns into a nightmare

—— You Magazine

Suspenseful, brooding, and with touches of witchcraft - it makes for a perfect blend of horror and thriller

—— Sunday Mirror

Shemilt specialises in the fictionalisation of parental nightmares . . . well written, taut and tense

—— Wendy Holden , Daily Mail

I enjoyed this book from the first page . . . this book comes with a very enthusiastic recommendation . . . The story is all encompassing and I felt itchy with anticipation as I savoured every page

—— The Book Bag

The parent's despair is so brilliantly written, you feel every stab of grief. The thrilling ending does not disappoint. A must-read!

—— Woman Magazine

Praise for Daughter

—— -

Utterly gripping. A tautly coiled spring of suspicion and suspense which builds to a devastating ending

—— Mail On Sunday

Taut and thought-provoking

—— Sunday Mirror

A brilliant thriller gripping with menace, but also a clear-eyed examination of female friendship and toxic masculinity. Denise Mina, a true original, can make you gasp in horror and laugh out loud on the same page

—— Mark Sanderson, The Times, *Books of the Year*

The Less Dead is one of the best crime novels I have read in ages... fast-paced, deftly-drawn... Denise Mina compellingly catches the tone of voice of angry, abandoned, drug-zonked Glaswegian women

—— A.N. Wilson, Tablet

A very urgent and affecting piece

—— Scotsman, *Books of the Year*

Mina has written the year's best crime novel

—— Daily Telegraph

A brilliant thriller dripping with menace... Denise Mina, a true original, can make you grasp in horror and laugh out loud on the same page

—— Joan Smith, The Times, *Crime Novel of the Year*

The always-wonderful Denise Mina with The Less Dead, notable as ever for its story, characters and setting

—— Lee Child, Daily Express, *Books of the Year*

A great writer and thinker

—— Richard Leonard, The Times

[A] terrifying and hilarious thriller

—— Daily Express, *Summer Reads of 2021*

Denise Mina gets to the heart of what crime really is. You feel like you are right there, in all the dark nooks and crannies that her characters inhabit

—— Sunday Times and International Bestselling Author, Karin Slaughter

Such intricate and enthralling storytelling. Evocative and creepy

—— Amanda Reynolds

This book is chilling. It's the type of book you need to read with the lights on and the doors locked but it's so gripping you won't regret the mild night terrors

—— Yahoo! Style UK

C. J. Tudor has crafted an intense novel that gets right to the heart of what it means to love and to grieve . . . Intriguing, dramatic and heartbreaking

—— Woman & Home

A chilling psychological thriller, pulsing with atmosphere and plot twists

—— Candis

A well-crafted story that blends a mystery with some supernatural chills. You'll want to leave the light on

—— Best

A chilling, atmospheric tale of justice, revenge, and the darkness lurking on the fringes of society

—— Daily Express

Vivid characterisation, lots of mystery as well as a twisting plot, it makes for a gripping page turner

—— NB Magazine

The chilling new novel by the bestselling author of The Chalk Man is an absolute page-turner. We'll just say the author isn't referred to as the 'Queen of Creepy' for nothing

—— That's Life

Complex thriller which is suffused with loss, longing and vengeance. Touches of the supernatural add to the spine-tingling thrills

—— The People

A novel with a formidable emotional pull

—— Financial Times

C.J. Tudor is mastering the suspense/horror genre . . . It's quietly disconcerting, completely relatable and shows you that humans have a wonderfully dark side

—— Woman's Weekly

Kidnap mystery and horror suspense all rolled into one as a man is haunted by his abduction of his daughter while the woman who knows what happened is on the run for her life

—— Love it!

Praise for C. J. Tudor

—— -

CJ Tudor taps into those things that woke you up in the night when you were a kid and then stay with you when you're an adult

—— Richard Armitage

Britain's female Stephen King

—— Daily Mail

Some writers have it, and some don't. C. J. Tudor has it big time

—— Lee Child

A dark star is born

—— A. J. Finn

An intense novel that gets right to the heart of what it means to love and grieve

—— Woman

Wonderfully gripping and doubt-inducing

—— Woman & Home

Sisters echoes Brontë's Wuthering Heights not only in its gothic elements and sombre descriptions of English landscapes but also in the idea of doomed love, love which becomes an omnipotent, harmful power... Sisters is chilling and unrestful in a way many horror stories aren't, the world of the novel itself a disturbing and anxious place.

—— Elizaveta Kolesova , Upcoming

An absorbing tale of sibling love and envy.

—— Citizen Femme

It's hard to deny the uncanny thrill generated by Johnson's blend of horror, nature writing and magical realism... As dazzling as a photographer's flash.

—— Anthony Cummins , Literary Review

Held me rapt until the very end

—— Lucy Diamond

I didn't want to put it down

—— Katherine Webb

A beautiful and intriguing page-turner

—— Dinah Jefferies

Rich and atmospheric

—— Rachel Hore
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