‘It’s brilliant! Buy it!’ Ann Cleeves on The Fells

One bitter winter’s night, Detectives Donovan and Young are called to Fountains Abbey. A crumbling ruin out on the wild and windswept Yorkshire Fells. Where the air hangs heavy with local legend, ancient secrets and now the overpowering tang of freshly spilled blood.

College teacher Patrick Armitage lies sprawled across the stones, in a gory crimson pool. His handsome face is a mask of shock and disbelief.

Because Patrick’s not just been murdered. He’s been slaughtered. Stabbed over and over in the coldest blood.

Patrick was a devoted family man and everyone’s favourite drama teacher. Does that make him a tragic victim — or a consummate actor, who kept his true self hidden behind a spotless façade?

The deeper Donovan and Young dig, the more they realize that no one in this baffling case is quite what they seem.

Least of all Patrick’s grief-stricken widow. She begs the detectives for answers, but meets every question with hostile silence.

Then a vulnerable young witness vanishes from college.

And Young knows, with spine-tingling certainty, that Patrick’s killer is not done yet . . .

Discover a gripping, emotionally charged crime thriller, set against the brooding beauty of the Yorkshire Fells. Perfect for fans of Ann Cleeves, Angela Marsons, J.R. Ellis, Val McDermid and Joy Ellis.

**Cath Staincliffe has been shortlisted six times for the prestigious CWA Dagger Awards.**

WHAT EVERYONE IS SAYING ABOUT CATH STAINCLIFFE:

‘A real knockout.’ Ian Rankin

‘One of the best police procedurals I’ve read this year.’ Ann Cleeves

‘A star in the firmament of British crime fiction.’ Big Issue

‘Mercilessly exciting.’ Daily Telegraph

‘Such a good writer.’ The Times

‘Powerful, complex and utterly gripping.’ Sunday Mirror