Synopsis
The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller
'A book to get lost in' Ann Cleeves
'Utterly brilliant. I could not put it down' Marian Keyes
Five years ago, Sam Crowley vanished on his twenty-first birthday. The only clues were his footprints in the dust of three abandoned houses.
One set in. One set out.
Now, his mother Ro returns to the dying town of Carralon Ridge. The community is a ghost of its former self, fractured by the encroaching mining operation and years of unspoken grief.
Ro is looking for answers. But in a town where everyone is leaving, the few who remain are guarding closely held secrets.
In this disappearing landscape, can Ro find the truth before the dust settles forever?
'I was glued to it for days' – Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
'An exquisite lament for a lost son, a lost marriage and a lost town with a dark mystery at its heart' – Daily Mail
'The drama grows to a spectacular crescendo that will leave you gasping’ Daily Express
Details
23 April 2026
9781035033973Reviews
This is a slow-burn of a novel, claustrophobic and compelling. It's a wonderful exploration of fractured families and communities, and the conclusion is both shocking and inevitable. A book to get lost in
Jane Harper is mistress of the threats and secrets that threaten life in the backwoods small towns of Australia. She delivers unbearable tension every time
An exceptional book. The sense of place is very powerful and her characterization is utterly brilliant . . . I could not put it down
A tale of old sins casting long shadows. It is like a locked room mystery with narrow silos of suspects and motives, but it is much more than that. Harper excels at making the reader feel every emotion, every moment of doubt, the thrill of a possible breakthrough, the wrench of another dead end. She takes the reader on a memorable journey that will pull at the heart, stiffen the spine, and thrill the reader. No one can ask for more than that.
