A Slow Fire Burning

A young man is found murdered on a houseboat in London, and the police turn to the women who knew him. The killing is violent.

Laura is the troubled woman who spent a night with him and was last seen in his home. Carla is his aunt, grieving him while she is still in mourning for another relative who died not long before. Miriam lives nearby, watches everything, and is plainly keeping something back from the police.

Each of the three carries a resentment of her own, for her own reasons, and each has a wrong she wants set right. The book asks how far ordinary, decent people might go once revenge is on the table, and how long a secret can be kept before it does damage.

This is a psychological thriller built around deceit, murder and payback, told through several women whose motives stay hidden. Expect a twisting plot and a tense, suspicious mood, with the pressure rising as the secrets press harder against the surface.