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The Wrong Girl

UK Publisher: Quercus

In 2006, 3-year-old Phoebe Piper went missing during a family holiday. Despite massive publicity and a long investigation, no trace of her was ever found.

Seven years later, Molly Jackson, aged ten and recently uprooted to a Norfolk village, finds her great uncle Dan dead in his bed.Molly remembers nothing of her early years, but she’s been sure for ages that she is Phoebe. Everything in her life points to it.

Dan’s death brings his sister Janice back to Norfolk where she is re-united with Molly’s mother Suzie, the daughter she gave up for adoption decades earlier. Janice discovers that a former lover, Joe Vincent, lives nearby. Joe was a rock star who, at the height of his fame, turned his back on public life.

As she is drawn back into the past, Janice begins to wonder if Dan’s death and Joe’s reputation as a reclusive acid casualty are quite what they appear… And then Molly disappears.

Laura Wilson is on cracking form in this dark and gripping tale of celebrity obession and the lies families tell each other.

REVIEWS

“Thoughtful, scary and true, this is reminiscent of Barbara Vine at her best.” – John Williams, The Mail on Sunday

“…a beautifully written, gripping and haunting mystery novel.” – Jessica Mann, Literary Review

“A gripping novel about family secrets and how to past comes back to haunt us all.” – Irish Times on Sunday, Best Books of 2015

“If you have already encountered Laura Wilson’s DI Stratton detective novels, then you’ll know that she writes excellent mystery novels with a strong sense of place, era and character, and a humane voice that’s perhaps too rare in crime fiction. Her stand-alone novel The Wrong Girl amply confirms these gifts’, 5 stars – The Independent

‘From the start I was intrigued … a slow, steady tale that will keep you hooked nonetheless’ – Pick Me Up.

‘THE WRONG GIRL is an interesting and well told story, with Janice a rather unlikely heroine, driven forward by circumstances towards a dramatic denouement.’ – Euro Crime

 ‘A twisting, turning mystery of tangled secrets, guilt and regret THE WRONG GIRL artfully combines the dark undertones of past trauma with a growing sense of impending doom. With stunning writing, vivid characters and bags of suspense, THE WRONG GIRL is a must read for fans of psychological thrillers.’ – Crime Thriller Girl.