An English Murder - by Louise Doughty (Paperback)

About the Book

When the bodies of a reclusive middle-aged couple are found slaughtered, and their teenage daughter goes missing, the tiny village of Nether Bowston is in shock. Alison Akenside, a reporter for the "Rutland Record", investigates and uncovers disturbing truths in a family--and town-- where not everything is as it seems.

Book Synopsis

When the bodies of the Cowpers, a reclusive middle-aged couple, are discovered brutally slaughtered -- and their teenage daughter goes missing -- the tiny village of Nether Bowston reels in shock. And as the townspeople mull over the first murder in a century, everyone is asking the same question: Where is Gemma Cowper?

Just down the road from the murder scene, Alison Akenside divides her time between cultivating her roses and reporting for the Rutland Record. Like Gemma, Alison grew up in the village -- and knows what it's like for a young girl whose dreams are far grander than her prospects.

Alison searches for inside information on the murder, hoping finally to sell a story to a national newspaper. But as the case leads her into the darkest corners of this bucolic town, she realizes that not everything is what it seems. And soon Alison, like the rest of Nether Bowston, will discover what really went on behind the tightly drawn curtains of the Cowper home -- and find out if Gemma is the victim of a madman ... or something much worse.

Review Quotes

"Gripping."
-- Chicago Sun-Times

"This is cozy noir, original, unpredictable, and almost certain to please the reader in search of something different."
-- The San Diego Union-Tribune

"Spellbinding."
-- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Superbly readable and beautifully put together."
-- The Independent on Sunday

About the Author

Louise Doughty is an award-winning English novelist, a playwright, a journalist, and a bestselling author. She has written eight novels, a work of nonfiction, and five plays for radio. She was a former judge for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph. Doughty now lives in London where she currently reviews books for The Observer, The Guardian, and BBC Radio 4's Saturday Review.