Deadly animals

£9.99

Thirteen-year-old Ava Bonney is unlike other children. Exceptionally bright, she has an obsessive interest in the rate at which dead animals decompose. The motorway she lives by regularly offers up roadkill, and in the dead of night Ava likes nothing better than to pull her latest discovery into her roadside den so she can study it. But one day when she arrives she stumbles across the body of fellow pupil, Mickey Grant. DI Seth Delahaye is given the case, one of the most challenging of his career. But Ava is not the sort of person who will step back and let someone else take charge when children like her are dying.

In stock

Description

DISCOVER THE GRIPPING 2024 BRITISH CRIME NOVEL EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT:

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE VAL McDERMID DEBUT AWARD 2024**
**One of The Times‘ best crime and mystery books of 2024 so far**

‘A remarkable debut’ – THE TIMES
‘Utterly mesmerising’ – PETER JAMES
‘A crime novel I wish I had written’ – LYNDA LA PLANTE
‘Marie’s writing is beautiful’ – BELINDA BAUER
‘Exceptional in every way’ – CHRIS WHITAKER
‘A dark glittering gem of a book’ – LISA GRAY
‘Gloriously dark, deadly and deathly’ – C. J. SKUSE
‘An incredible debut. Damn near perfect’ – SUSI HOLLIDAY
‘Tierney is a name to watch’ – SAM HOLLAND
‘A masterpiece’ – WILLIAM HUSSEY

Thirteen-year-old Ava Bonney is different.

While her friends play, Ava searches for roadkill. She knows studying animal decomposition is an unusual hobby, but Ava doesn’t care what other people think.

Then, one night, when Ava sneaks out to find a fox, she instead stumbles upon the body of Mickey Grant.

Despite his many years in the police, Detective Seth Delahaye has never seen a murder case like this one – as though the victim was set upon by a wild animal.

Nor has he met anyone quite like Ava: so determined, resourceful and . . . unusual.

And when another boy goes missing, he has no idea that Ava will become his secret weapon in the hunt for a killer.

Deadly Animals is a shockingly beautiful, rare and heartbreaking gem. I really can’t recommend it highly enough’ – CHRIS WHITAKER

Additional information

Dimensions 19.8 × 12.9 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

400

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K