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The Dead Lie Down by Sophie Hannah — book cover

The Dead Lie Down

by Sophie Hannah
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Overview

A heart-stopping novel of psychological suspense from the internationally bestselling author of The Wrong Mother and The Other Woman’s House

Ruth Bussey once did something wrong – horribly wrong – and was nearly destroyed by her punishment. Now, she has tentatively rebuilt her life and unexpectedly found love with a man named Aidan Seed. But Aidan also has a secret, and one day he confides in Ruth: years ago, he killed a woman named Mary Trelease. Ruth's initial horror turns to confusion when she realizes that she knows Mary Trelease, and Mary is very much alive. So why does Aidan insist that she’s dead? The fourth book in Sophie Hannah’s beloved Zailer and Waterhouse series, The Dead Lie Down is a sophisticated, addictive page-turner that will appeal to fans of Laura Lippman and Tana French.

Synopsis

A breathtaking novel of psychological suspense from the author of Little Face and The Wrong Mother

Featuring the return of Sergeant Charlotte "Charlie" Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse, The Dead Lie Down is another sophisticated, addictive read from the new mistress of the page-turner.

Ruth Bussey once did something wrong-horribly wrong-and was nearly destroyed by her punishment. Now, she has tentatively rebuilt her life and unexpectedly found love with a man named Aidan Seed. But Aidan also has a secret-he killed someone years ago, a woman named Mary Trelease. Ruth's horror turns to confusion when she realizes that she knows Mary Trelease, and Mary is very much alive.

Publishers Weekly

Det. Sgt. Charlotte “Charlie” Zailer and Det. Constable Simon Waterhouse face one of their strangest cases yet in this superb thriller from Hannah (The Wrong Mother). Ruth Bussey, who suffered a violent attack years earlier, arrives at the police station in the English town of Spilling and explains that her boyfriend, painter Aidan Seed, confessed to murdering a woman named Mary Trelease. Charlie and Simon—who recently got engaged, despite their bizarre relationship—are reluctant to take Ruth seriously, especially after they learn that Mary, a reclusive painter, is alive and well. Ruth’s insistence, bordering on the obsessive, prompts the detectives to start digging into Mary’s history. The pair soon discover disturbing links to Aidan and the art world. When an actual murder is committed, Charlie and Simon must sort out what’s real and what’s imagined. A master of intricate plotting, Hannah seamlessly melds the police procedural with a gothic-inspired whodunit. 5-city author tour. (June)

About the Author, Sophie Hannah

Sophie Hannah is an award-winning poet and crime fiction writer whose novels are international bestsellers.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Det. Sgt. Charlotte “Charlie” Zailer and Det. Constable Simon Waterhouse face one of their strangest cases yet in this superb thriller from Hannah (The Wrong Mother). Ruth Bussey, who suffered a violent attack years earlier, arrives at the police station in the English town of Spilling and explains that her boyfriend, painter Aidan Seed, confessed to murdering a woman named Mary Trelease. Charlie and Simon—who recently got engaged, despite their bizarre relationship—are reluctant to take Ruth seriously, especially after they learn that Mary, a reclusive painter, is alive and well. Ruth’s insistence, bordering on the obsessive, prompts the detectives to start digging into Mary’s history. The pair soon discover disturbing links to Aidan and the art world. When an actual murder is committed, Charlie and Simon must sort out what’s real and what’s imagined. A master of intricate plotting, Hannah seamlessly melds the police procedural with a gothic-inspired whodunit. 5-city author tour. (June)

Library Journal

Ruth Bussey stops DS Charlotte Zailer in the police station's parking lot and tells her an unusual story. Her boyfriend, Aidan, thinks that he killed a woman named Mary Trelease. But Ruth has met Mary and knows that she is alive. Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse take statements from Ruth, Aidan, and Mary on the supposition that they think something is going to happen. Set amid London's art scene, Hannah's latest psychological thriller (after The Wrong Mother and Little Face) gets bogged down with long conversations between the investigating officers, as they muse about what would cause someone to claim to have committed a murder that had not occurred. VERDICT The plot is too uninteresting and the behavior of the characters too unnatural to engage readers. The author's fans are likely to be disappointed.—Linda Oliver, Colorado Springs

Kirkus Reviews

Why confess to a murder that never happened?Picture framer Aidan Seed tells his assistant Ruth Bussey, his new lover, that he murdered Mary Trelease years ago. No questions, please. Ruth not only disbelieves him but has proof that this never happened. Just a few months ago, while working for another picture framer, she fell in love with a signed and recently dated work by Mary and wanted to buy it. As a result, the artist attacked her and caused her to leave her job. Still, the confession so worries Ruth that she approaches the Culver Valley police and speaks with Detective Charlotte Zailer, recently demoted for a past entanglement with a serial rapist. Zailer and her current fiance, socially maladroit copper Simon Waterhouse, unofficially tackle the case of the murder that wasn't. Among their findings: Seed is the prime suspect in the murder of another woman, alternative therapist Gemma Crowther, whose past includes an interlude of torture that left Ruth with a jagged scar bisecting her abdomen, a permanent sense of paranoia and an admiration bordering on obsession for people, like Zailer, who've survived extreme vilification. There's also the peculiar provenance of Abberton, one of Mary's paintings that seems to turn up in unlikely places, including an arts festival and a girl's school attended long ago by a certain Martha Wyers. A complex, unnerving study of relationships, with none more stressful than that of Sgt. Zailer and DC Waterhouse. Her exemplary skills put Hannah (The Wrong Mother, 2009, etc.) right up there with Ruth Rendell.

Book Details

Published
June 1, 2010
Publisher
Penguin Group (USA)
Pages
480
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780143117490

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