A Ruined Girl: an unmissable thriller with a killer twist you won't see coming

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Serpent's Tail, Aug 27, 2020 - Fiction - 236 pages

'A tense, unsettling and emotionally engaging whydunnit' - SOPHIE HANNAH

'Gritty, tense, and superbly plotted' -
HARRIET TYCE

TWO BOYS LOVED HER.
BUT WHICH ONE KILLED HER?

On a dark night two years ago, teenagers Rob and Paige broke into a house. They beat and traumatised the occupants, then left, taking only a bracelet. No one knows why, not even Luke, Rob's younger brother and Paige's confidant. Paige disappeared after that night. And having spent her life in children's homes and the foster system, no one cared enough to look for her.

Now Rob is out of prison, and probation officer Wren Reynolds has been tasked with his rehabilitation. But Wren has her own reasons for taking on Rob as a client. Convinced that Rob knows what happened to Paige, and hiding a lifetime of secrets from her heavily pregnant wife, Wren's obsession with finding a missing girl may tear her family apart...

This compelling and unputdownable thriller about the forgotten children of the foster system is perfect for readers of Harriet Tyce, Sophie Hannah and Lisa Jewell.

'Immersive and compelling, authentic and raw' - S.E. LYNES

'Superb. A rare combination of stunning twists and exceptional prose' - DAVID JACKSON

'A mesmerising tale. One of the rising stars of crime fiction' - TREVOR WOOD

 

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About the author (2020)

Kate Simants spent years as an investigative undercover journalist for Channel 4 and the BBC; her investigations into children's homes were the inspiration for A Ruined Girl. She was shortlisted for a CWA Debut Dagger for her first novel Lock Me In and won the UEA Literary Festival scholarship to study for an MA in Crime Fiction. She lives near Bristol with her family.

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