It is the sweltering summer of 1997, and Karen is a strait-laced, straight-A university student. When she meets the impossibly glamorous Biba, a bohemian orphan who lives in a crumbling old mansion in Highgate with her enigmatic brother Rex, she is soon drawn into their world – but something terrible is about to happen, and someone`s going to end up dead..

Already drawing comparisons to Barbara Vine, Tana French and Sophie Hannah, Erin Kelly is an extraordinarily talented new author.

Reviews

'The writing is elegant, atmospheric and sophisticated.'

Sophie Hannah

'In her compelling debut, Erin Kelly evokes the brooding atmosphere of Rebecca, in a contemporary and completely convincing novel of tangled family desires.'

Sara Paretsky

'Tense and menacing right from page one, filled with foreboding and a terrible sense of the inevitable. Kelly builds a feeling of claustrophobia and of seemingly ordinary people driven to do extraordinary things. It's a gripping psychological thrill . . . and I expect the author to go far.'

Bookseller

'A wonderfully tense and foreboding thriller that is at the same time a clever, considered study of desire and a good old-fashioned page-turner'

Psychologies

'A tense, twisting thriller . . . Atmospheric and gripping, it will keep you guessing the the end'

Cosmopolitan

'Terrifically vivid, beautifully written'

www.crimesquad.com

'This taut psychological thriller from new author Erin Kelly has unexpected twists and turns until the very last page'

Now

'A gripping debut, this thriller has a creeping sense of unease'

Bella

'Gripping . . . you won't put it down'

Look

'With forensic attention to detail, this mystery is all-consumingly addictive'

Easy Living

'A psychological thriller that will give you chills'

Red

'A really great read'

Good Housekeeping

'Tense to the end'

Woman & Home

'An enjoyable excursion into territory first colonised by Barbara Vine'

Literary Review

'A shadowy, impeccably told tale of passion, friendship and murder'

Marie Claire

'I suggest you grab a coffee, silent the phone and get comfy as you’re not going to want to put this book done. It’s that good . . . A creative, tense, gripping debut novel, and a must read.'

www.bookrabbit.com

'Erin Kelly's gravely elegant style masks an arch talent for misdirection that allows her to spring several satisfyingly long-fused surprises'

Daily Telegraph

'The dark world of psychological thrillers has a bright new voice . . . [a] twisted, brooding, creepy debut'

Daily Mirror

'Meticulous and evocative detail does not hold up the impetus of the narrative . . . a most absorbing read'

www.shotsmag.co.uk

'I loved it . . . really spooky'

Alexandra Heminsley, BBC 6 Music

'A brilliant new voice in crime fiction . . . Kelly expertly builds up the suspense . . . Extremely accomplished - Kelly creates an atmosphere as claustrophobic as a summer commute, which permeates the narrative and keeps the reader hooked.'

Stylist

'An unusually good debut psychological thriller from an author who instinctively knows how to tell a suspense story (think early Barbara Vine) and whose plotting, characterisation, fluent writing and dark humour should ensure her a successful career'

Daily Mail

'A beautifully crafted, evocative psychological thriller . . . A dark, poetic, gripping, totally brilliant Brideshead Revisited for the 21st century'

The Times

'Weaving tangled webs, this is a gripping psychological thriller with believable characters and a fine sense of time and place. It will keep you intrigued from the menacing prologue to the defiant ending.'

Choice

'THE POISON TREE has a nicely claustrophobic cape wrapped round it . . . the novel's a clever tease, the pay-off more than worth it'

Time Out