KIND OF CRUEL
Some secrets are so dark you keep them even from yourself . . .
When Amber Hewerdine consults a hypnotherapist as a desperate last resort, she doesn’t expect that anything much will change.
She doesn’t expect it to help with her chronic insomnia . . .
She doesn’t expect to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: ‘Kind, cruel, kind of cruel’ – words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where . . .
She doesn’t expect to be arrested two hours later, as a result of having spoken those words out loud, in connection with the brutal murder of Katharine Allen, a woman she’s never heard of . . .
#7 IN THE WATERHOUSE & ZAILER CRIME SERIES
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REVIEWS
“An exploration of memory and the way trauma lives on in the present. Cool, calculating and utterly chilling, Kind of Cruel is another compulsive book from Hannah, to be gulped down with all the lights on and someone to grab when the sense of menace grows too great.”
Observer
“[Hannah] has outdone herself with Kind Of Cruel…Her trademark precision-layered structure creates a multi-dimensional maze that holds at its centre a revelation which is truly hair-raising, even by Hannah’s standards.”
Independent on Sunday
“A rich mix of the dark and the diverting. Brilliantly believable.”
Sunday Times
“An audacious puzzle of a novel that is impossible to second guess. There are clues on virtually every page but only when you reach the final chapter does it become apparent how they slot together. Crime novels are often dismissed in literary circles for not being literary enough. Yet Kind Of Cruel is exactly the intelligent, reflective and stunningly written novel that has “literary” critics swooning and judging panels lining up to reward. The fact that it has a police investigation at its heart is a plus, not a minus, and makes for one hell of a journey.”
Sunday Express
“Hannah excels at dissecting human behaviour, and the way she describes little acts of cruelty can send real chills down the spine.”
Psychologies magazine
“Hannah’s classy psychological thrillers are known for their amazing openings and this one is a doozy. She proceeds to mix, with superb skill, the utterly gripping first person narration of Amber as she tries to grapple with the myriad mysteries in her life, plus the investigations of her regular detective duo. The plot developments are often jaw-dropping and the ending is wonderfully satisfying. Another triumph for one of the very best crime writers out there. Stunningly clever and compelling.”
Heat