Sarah Hilary: The drowning place, Vintage/Penguin Random House, hardback, pub date 16. April 2026

Set in the Peak District, detective Joseph Ashe, is the only survivor of a bus crash as a 10 year old,  sending everyone else to their chilly grave drowning in a reservoir. 

17 years later Joe is joined by DI Laurie Bower who has moved from Manchester for family reasons,  to investigate the brutal killing of a local couple and their baby son in the village of Edenscar where everyone seems to know the other persons business. 

It is a dark, haunting new crime series with a terrific team of characters, detectives and a plot that unfolds slowly. If you like Broadchurch or Vera, this is for you. I really liked that Joe sees the ghost of his childhood friend and talks to him during his investigations. Looking forward to the next book in the series.