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Dead Man’s Daughter
Roz Watkins
‘A formidable newcomer to British crime writing’ Daily Mail‘Outstanding’ Stephen BoothA gripping thriller set in the atmospheric Peak District, perfect for fans of Val McDermid, Broadchurch and Happy Valley***‘She was running towards the gorge. The place the locals call Dead Girl's Drop…’DI Meg Dalton isn’t prepared for her latest case. A ten year old girl is found running through the woods, barefoot and wearing only a blood-soaked nightdress. She has no memory of what happened to her, but her father is found stabbed to death in their nearby house.At first, Meg blames an intruder – but why had the girl's murdered father been so obsessed with the creepy statues in the woods, and with the girl's recent heart transplant?Meg's investigation leads her down a chilling path. The girl has been having nightmares, and seems to remember things that happened to her heart donor. Who was the donor and what happened to them? Could this have anything to do with the murder of the girl's father?Meg is forced to question her deepest beliefs to discover the shocking truth before the killer strikes again…
ROZ WATKINS is the author of the DI Meg Dalton crime series, which is set in the Peak District where Roz lives with her partner and a menagerie of demanding animals.
Her first book, The Devil’s Dice, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger Award, and has been optioned for TV.
Roz studied engineering at Cambridge University before training in patent law. She was a partner in a firm of patent attorneys in Derby, but this has absolutely nothing to do with there being a dead one in her first novel.
In her spare time, Roz likes to walk in the Peak District, scouting out murder locations.
Copyright (#uabbe8212-4249-5d61-b60d-08502f5d06f6)
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2019
Copyright © Roz Watkins 2019
Roz Watkins asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Ebook Edition © April 2019 ISBN: 9780008214661
Praise for Roz Watkins (#ulink_8e52b2ca-f0ad-5587-9334-224efda47480)
‘The Devil’s Dice is a terrific debut by Roz Watkins; it teems with shivery atmosphere and introduces a cop quietly different from most of the women detectives in British crime fiction today.’
The Times Crime Book of the Month
‘A touch of Agatha Christie, a dash of Ann Cleeves’s Vera and a suitably moody setting in the Peaks . . . bring a formidable newcomer to British crime writing.’
Daily Mail
‘A fascinating debut . . . Watkins brilliantly balances superstition and scepticism in this clever first novel.’
Sunday Times
‘A fabulous book. I can’t wait to meet DI Meg Dalton again.’
B A Paris
‘An outstanding debut. The Devil’s Dice had me gripped from the start.’
Stephen Booth
‘Twisty, creepy, funny, and you may shed a tear too. More DI Meg Dalton please!’
Caz Frear
‘A page-turning debut featuring a fabulous lead character.’
Susi Holliday
‘A fascinating debut with a deliciously old school mystery at its heart. I can’t wait to see what Watkins does next!’
Angela Clarke
‘A pacy, twisty read that had me on the edge of my seat . . . what a brilliant debut!’
K.L. Slater
‘Exceptional debut. Beautifully written and observed crime novel, with such well-rounded maturity it was a pleasure to read from start to finish. Glad it is a series so that we all have a lot more to look forward to.’
Amanda Robson
For Rob.
(I still think we could have got away with a talking dog.)
Contents
Cover (#ud710f4f5-d4b7-5784-b48c-4c63f6041c1a)
About the Author (#u3c0e704a-7111-5ee5-b17d-7095858bde63)
Title Page (#u2b01a731-6058-53b5-9193-df4366a35806)
Copyright (#ulink_f706e495-d43e-5182-8dce-2dc3379a51a7)
Praise (#ulink_73ea79ad-088a-5ced-be2e-32611b674af9)
Dedication (#u50e45f4d-2455-5047-ae6a-ec19bc3e38c1)
Prologue (#ulink_a3d9bf08-649f-5f72-a8f1-7062146aaf58)
Chapter 1 (#ulink_bc190dc4-d3d5-5175-aad1-6b43c2ca81bc)
Chapter 2 (#ulink_7c9a5a46-a49e-54c6-a139-d916d9e4ea7d)
Chapter 3 (#ulink_454740eb-365d-540b-b2af-1656a5f3f586)
Chapter 4 (#ulink_e70e0c1a-3436-51a6-9a2d-84f154cf96d5)
Chapter 5 (#ulink_29f80435-0c15-5b2d-912b-9c1830331f65)
Chapter 6 (#ulink_2e119610-0dc5-5b70-9420-51ba278843af)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 26 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 27 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 28 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 29 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 30 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 31 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 32 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 33 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 34 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 35 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 36 (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue (#ulink_495c5036-5673-50b4-9a5b-7db3e0054ad8)
She lay on her back, hard metal under her, so cold it felt like being punched. The smell of antiseptic scorched her throat. She couldn’t move.
She tried to scream. To tell them not to do it. She was still alive, still conscious, still feeling. It shouldn’t be happening. But no sound came.
The man had a knife. He was approaching with a knife. Silver glinted in the cold light. Why could she still see? This was wrong.
With all her will, she tried to shrink from him. He took a step closer.
Another man stood by. Dressed in green. Calm. They were all calm. How could they be so calm? She must be crying, tears streaming down her face, even if her voice and her legs and her arms wouldn’t work.
Please, please, please don’t. Inside her head she was begging. Please stop. I can feel. I’m still here. I’m still me. No words came out.
The terror filled her; filled the room.
The knife came closer. She couldn’t move. It was happening.
The touch of steel on her skin. Finally a scream.
One of the men placed his hand on her mouth.
The other man pushed towards her heart.
1. (#ulink_0b4c197d-c37c-586f-9a42-e51306452aae)
The woman grabbed my hand and pulled me deeper into the woods. Her voice rasped with panic. ‘She was running towards the gorge. The place the locals call Dead Girl’s Drop.’
