Freddy left her childhood home in Newhaven twenty-two years ago and swore never to return. But now her parents are dead, and she's back in her hometown to help her brothers manage the family fishmonger. Nothing here has changed: the stink of fish coming up from the marshes; the shopping trolleys half-buried by muddy tides; the neighbours sniffing for a new piece of gossip. It's not what Freddy would have chosen, but at least while she's here she'll get to see her childhood best friends, Toni and Pauline. At school, the three of them were inseparable. The teachers called them the Mermaids for their obsession with the sea, and with each other. Then Pauline goes missing, and Freddy must decide. Go back to her new life, or stay and find her friend?
Praise for the author:
âOne of the most original characters in British crime fiction ... Thomson's plots are original and she draws her characters with genuine affectionâ SUNDAY TIMES
âIn the best traditions of the classic whodunnit, this is Midsomer Murders for grown-upsâ SUNDAY EXPRESS
âA wonderfully eerie London setting and a chilling plot ... Lesley Thomson is one of our leading crime writersâ ELLY GRIFFITHS
âA clever mystery plot ... Its excellence is in the characters, all credible and memorableâ LITERARY REVIEW
âGloriously well-written ... Thomson creates a rich and sinister world that is utterly uniqueâ WILLIAM SHAW