Greenwich Park

Helen has the life she spent years hoping for: an architect husband, a Victorian house in Greenwich, and a baby due soon. At her first prenatal class she meets Rachel, a single mother-to-be who smokes, drinks and admits to little interest in becoming a parent.

Helen is drawn to her anyway. She is lonely, and Rachel is good company: she makes Helen laugh, coaxes out her confidences and takes her mind off her fears. Helen decides Rachel may simply need a friend.

Then Rachel's behaviour turns erratic. Helen is not the only one who sees it. Her friends and family start to suspect that this new arrival is tied to their shared past in ways nobody expected.

The book is a psychological thriller built on a friendship that sours and on the secrets of a close circle. Rachel threatens to expose a past crime that could ruin everyone involved.

The polished, lamplit setting of Greenwich Park hides more than it shows. The mood is one of creeping unease, with domestic comfort slowly giving way to suspicion and fear for what the pregnancy and the household stand to lose.