The First Girl

"Delivers with both style and substance. . . Claire McGowan is one of my favourite authors and this is a truly first-class read."—Louise Candlish

She believed her serial-killer ex was innocent, but now history is repeating itself. What does she really remember?

Writer Karen Walker knows more than most about murderers. Her first love went on to become The Bagman, a notorious serial killer now locked away for life in a maximum-security prison.

Karen has spent her life running from the weight of having loved him, defended him and, ultimately, leading the police to his door. But now, ten years later, just as she’s about to publish her account of his crimes, a young woman is abducted in horribly familiar circumstances.

It can’t be The Bagman…can it? He’s safely behind bars, thanks to her. But she has to know for sure.

Returning to the hometown she thought she’d left for good, Karen is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the man she’s never escaped. If there’s any chance of saving the kidnapped girl, she’ll have to face up to what really happened back then, once and for all…

Born in Northern Ireland, Claire published her first novel in 2012, and has followed it up with many others in the crime fiction genre and also in women’s fiction (writing as Eva Woods). Writing thrillers for Thomas & Mercer, she has sold over a million books and has had several number-one bestsellers. She ran the UK’s first MA in crime writing for five years, and regularly teaches and talks about writing. Her first non-fiction project, the true-crime book The Vanishing Triangle, was released in 2022. She also writes scripts and has several original projects in development for TV, as well as having had four radio dramas broadcast. Several of her novels are also in development as television series. She lives in London and would love to hear from readers via the methods below!

Website and email via: www.clairemcgowan.co.uk

X: @inkstainsclaire

Instagram: @clairemcgowanwriter

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ClaireMcGowanAuthor