The Less Dead

Longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2022

Shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library 2021

Longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize 2021

Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2020

When Margo goes in search of her birth mother for the first time, she meets her aunt, Nikki, instead. Margo learns that her mother, Susan, was a sex worker murdered soon after Margo's adoption. To this day, Susan's killer has never been found.

Nikki asks Margo for help. She has received threatening and haunting letters from the murderer, for decades. She is determined to find him, but she can't do it alone...

A brilliant, thought-provoking and heart-wrenching new thriller about identity and the value of a life, from the award-winning author of The Long Drop and Conviction.