When novelist Theo Kendal inherits the remote Norfolk house in which his cousin Charmery was murdered, he believes it will bring him closer to the truth about her death. It will also be the ideal place to finish his new book. But the bleak Fenn House is a lonely and sometimes uncomfortable place to spend the winter. And the strangest thing is that Theo’s new novel seems to be writing itself - and heading in an unplanned direction. Theo finds himself describing a young boy called Matthew who lives in constant fear of a visit from the cold-eyed men. Struggling to understand the dangerous secrets that surround him and his family, Matthew inhabits a terrifying world where people die in macabre circumstances, where they can be imprisoned without trial or reason, their identities wiped from the world forever. And then Theo discovers that Matthew and his family really existed, part of a dark and violent segment of recent history that threatens to reach across the years to tear his life apart. And somehow it all connects to the death of his cousin Charmery

When the village of Priors Bramley was shut off in the 1950s so that the area could be used for chemical weapons-testing during the Cold War, a long history of dark secrets was also closed off to the outside world. Now, sixty years later, the village has been declared safe again, but there are those living in nearby Bramley who would much rather that the past remain hidden. When the village is reopened, Ella Haywood, who used to play there as a child, is haunted by the discovery of two bodies. Shortly before the isolation of the village, she and her two oldest friends had a violent and terrifying encounter with a stranger - with terrible consequences. They made a pact of silence at the time, but the past has a habit of forcing the truth to the surface. With the mystery surrounding the now derelict Cadence Manor drawing increasing local interest, Ella finds that she will have to resort to ever more drastic measures if she is to make sure that no one discovers what really happened all those years ago. About the Author The author of seven terrifying novels of psychological suspense, Sarah Rayne lives in Staffordshire. Visit www.sarahrayne.co.uk