A Drowning Tide

by Sarah Lawton

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Pub Date 12 Sep 2024 | Archive Date 19 Sep 2024

Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction

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Description

Merry lives a simple life. For work, she writes cryptic crossword puzzles. For pleasure, she swims in the icy cold sea. And in between she keeps a careful eye on her neighbour, Lucas Manning, the son of her late best friend Julia.

One day Lucas's wife reports him missing. Merry has known Lucas his whole life; he would never walk out like this. Bad things have always hovered around the Manning family. Lucas's abusive criminal father disappeared decades ago, and his brother Sean is in jail. But Lucas is different. A good man. He was the one who turned Sean in to the police, after all. Although Sean has spent every day since professing his innocence.

As she begins to dig into Lucas's life, Merry forms an uneasy alliance with a private investigator doing the same. Gareth was hired by Lucas's employers, who are also desperate to locate him - and the sensitive work project he has absconded with. Merry might be a cryptic crossword mastermind, but reading people is hard. Was she wrong about Lucas? Did the wrong brother go down all those years ago? This is no straightforward disappearing act: something much more sinister is at play. But as she get closer to the truth, Merry must confront her own dark past with the Manning family, which she has fought so long to keep buried. Who can she trust with her secrets?

Advance Praise

'A standout mystery crime thriller, A Drowning Tide is told in first person by Merry, who despite being damaged by her traumatic past is a very likeable protagonist. Set on the Isle of Wight, it's a really compelling novel of buried secrets being gradually unearthed, which kept me guessing until the final reveal.' - Fran Taylor, author of Wind In My Wings

'I'm going to send this loud cheer for Sarah Lawton's terrific book, which I've absolutely loved. It's beautifully written, gorgeously twisty and a complete page-turner. Merry's damaged, self-protective eccentricity is heartbreakingly real, while her true warmth glows like a furnace. I was rooting for her throughout. Finally, the setting is just glorious - full of brackish, stony, loamy Isle of Wight authenticity.' - Fiona Walker, author of The Art of Murder

‘An engrossing, twisty mystery with an irresistibly quirky protagonist and a setting so richly evoked you'll be booking your Isle of Wight holiday before you turn the last page.’ - Tammy Cohen, author of They All Fall Down

‘In this beautifully written book of cryptic clues, doubts and suspense, we are swept up in a current of uncertainty and fear. In Merry, we have a balanced heroine for our time: prickly and flawed, yet ultimately both forgiving and forgiven. A book to dive into!’ - Rosie Sandler, author of Murder Takes Root