Speak No Evil

Martyn Waites

Dec 2013 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

Anne Marie Smeaton is back in the hometown she hasn't seen for forty years, trying to live a normal life with her partner and teenage son. But that's impossble for Anne Marie. Because forty years ago, when she was eleven, she killed a little boy.

She is trying to make peace with her past by telling her story to journalist Joe Donovan. But it's not that simple. By dredging up memories and emotions she usually keeps repressed, Anne Marie is unleashing old nightmares from the past. Suffering from horrifying visions, she sometimes does bad things. Things she has no memory of afterwards. So when a teenager on her housing estate is murdered and she wakes up with blood on her hands, Anne Marie naturally fears the worst.

With her fragile life falling apart, Anne Marie turns to those she loves. But where she was expecting support, she finds only betrayal. Desperate, she turns to Donovan for help. But Donovan may have his own reasons for helping her. Reasons which have to do with the disappearance of his own son . . .

About the author

Martyn Waites was born and raised in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He first worked as an actor and has appeared in numerous theatre and TV productions. His first novel, Mary's Prayer, featuring investigative journalist Stephen Larkin, was published in 1997. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger for thriller of the year, the Dagger in Library and the short story Dagger, and his novel The White Room was Guardian Book of the Year. Writing as Tania Carver, he created the Phil Brennan/Marina Esposito series, the first of which, The Surrogate, was shortlisted for the Theakstons Award for crime novel of the year. He has held two writing residencies in YOIs and prisons, twice been the RLF Literary Fellow at Essex university, held classes in creative writing for excluded teenagers and taught an MA in crime fiction. He can be found at www.martynwaites.com or www.taniacarver.com