She’s loved by all who meet her

But someone wants her gone…

Alec Salter doesn’t seem worried when his wife, Charlotte, fails to attend his 50th birthday party and, with most of their small village in attendance, it’s hours before anyone realises she’s missing. As the days pass and still no sight, Charlotte’s daughter, Etty, and her sons, Niall, Paul and Ollie, all struggle to understand her disappearance. Left in limbo with no answers, the Salter children try and go on with their lives, all the while suspecting their mother’s potential killer could be very close to home.

Thirty years later, Etty helps move Alec, stricken with dementia, into an elder care facility. But when her childhood friends, Greg and Morgan Ackerley, start a surprisingly popular true crime podcast investigating Charlotte’s presumed death, the town’s buried secrets – and the Salters’ – might finally come to light.

With the podcast turning the case into national news, Inspector Maud O’Connor is dispatched to investigate. Frustrated by the sexism and incompetence of her colleagues, Maud will stop at nothing to uncover the terrible truth of what really happened to Charlotte Salter.

A nerve-tingling and atmospheric thriller from master of suspense Nicci French about families shattered by tragedy and the secrets that have been waiting decades to be revealed.


PRAISE FOR NICCI FRENCH: 

'Fantastic - a breathless drumbeat of dread and suspense . . . no one does it better than Nicci French' LEE CHILD
'Expertly paced, psychologically sharp, thoroughly enjoyable' LOUISE CANDLISH 
‘One of their very best. Compelling, moving, and beautifully written … an absolute winner’ OBSERVER
'Perfection' SOPHIE HANNAH
'Classic Nicci French: an unputdownable missing-persons thriller that’s also a searing examination of family, memory and grief … Heart-thumping, head-scratching, nail-biting stuff' ERIN KELLY
'No-one does the dark distortion of good intentions like Nicci French' CARA HUNTER
'An absolute masterclass of crime writing' KATE RHODES
'As well as a fantastic mystery, Nicci French has written  a powerful, moving and wise story about the damage that loss does to families, with characters you can’t forget. I loved it' JO CALLAGHAN