Shortlisted for the 2015 Costa First Novel AwardShortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award'Mesmerising, compulsive, deliciously dark' LUCY FOLEYCarmel is missing - but doesn't know she's lost.When sensitive, distracted eight-year-old Carmel becomes separated from her mother at a local children's festival, a man claiming to be her estranged grandfather finds her - and takes her.Unable to accept the possibility that her daughter might be gone for good, Beth makes it her mission to find her. But in what she's told is her new family, Carmel has embarked on an extraordinary journey, one that will make her question who she is - and who she might become.'Keeps the reader turning pages at a frantic clip . . . What's most powerful here is not whodunnit, or even why, but how this mother and daughter bear their separation.' CELESTE NG

Shortlisted for the 2015 Costa First Novel AwardShortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award'Mesmerising, compulsive, deliciously dark' LUCY FOLEYCarmel is missing - but doesn't know she's lost.When sensitive, distracted eight-year-old Carmel becomes separated from her mother at a local children's festival, a man claiming to be her estranged grandfather finds her - and takes her.Unable to accept the possibility that her daughter might be gone for good, Beth makes it her mission to find her. But in what she's told is her new family, Carmel has embarked on an extraordinary journey, one that will make her question who she is - and who she might become.'Keeps the reader turning pages at a frantic clip . . . What's most powerful here is not whodunnit, or even why, but how this mother and daughter bear their separation.' CELESTE NG

My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. They're not my real parents, but they tell me what to do, and what to say. But there are things I won't say. I won't tell them I'm going to hunt for my real parents. I don't say a word about Shadow, who sits on the stairs, or the Wasp Lady I saw. Or that I'm a hunter for lost souls.I'm going to be with my real family. And I won't let anyone stop me.

My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. They're not my real parents, but they tell me what to do, and what to say. I'm supposed to say that the bruises on my arms and the black eye came from falling down the stairs.But there are things I won't say. I won't tell them I'm going to hunt for my real parents. I don't say a word about Shadow, who sits on the stairs, or the Wasp Lady I saw on the way to bed.I did tell Mick that I saw the woman in the buttercup dress, hanging upside down from her seat belt deep in the forest at the back of our house. I told him I saw death crawl out of her. He said he'd give me a medal for lying.I wasn't lying. I'm a hunter for lost souls and I'm going to be with my real family. And I'm not going to let Mick stop me.

Phoebe stands on Pulteney Bridge, tights gashed from toe to thigh. The shock of mangled metal and blood-stained walls flashes through her mind as she tries to cover her face so she won't be recognised. It wouldn't do to be spotted looking like this. She's missing a shoe. She feels sick.Phoebe thought murder and murder happened. Thoughts are just thoughts, they said. Now she knows they were wrong.At home, Phoebe arranges the scissors and knives so they point toward her mother's room. She is exhausted, making sure there's no trace of herself - not a single hair, not even her scent - left anywhere in the house. She must not let her thoughts unravel, because if they do, there's no telling who might be caught in the crossfire, and Phoebe will have to live with the consequences.

'Mesmerising, compulsive, deliciously dark - and so good on the complex and thorny bond between friends. Kate Hamer's writing is incandescent.' Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting PartyPhoebe stands on Pulteney Bridge, tights gashed from toe to thigh. The shock of mangled metal and blood-stained walls flashes through her mind as she tries to cover her face so she won't be recognised. It wouldn't do to be spotted looking like this. She's missing a shoe. She feels sick.Phoebe thought murder and murder happened. Thoughts are just thoughts, they said. Now she knows they were wrong.At home, Phoebe arranges the scissors and knives so they point toward her mother's room. She is exhausted, making sure there's no trace of herself - not a single hair, not even her scent - left anywhere in the house. She must not let her thoughts unravel, because if they do, there's no telling who might be caught in the crossfire, and Phoebe will have to live with the consequences.

'Beautifully written, intense.' LISA BALLANTYNE'A thrilling, emotive and heartfelt mystery.' CHRIS WHITAKERFROM THE AUTHOR OF BESTSELLING DEBUT THE GIRL IN THE RED COATLost, she narrowly escaped disaster.Beth is desperate to return to normality. After a years-long ordeal, her daughter is finally home and safe. But Carmel has questions she can't ignore about the cult that kidnapped her, and about the preacher who gave her another girl's name.Found, she must survive a miracle.Digging into her past, Carmel uncovers secrets which suggest that she wasn't the only lost girl - and which puts her in danger all over again. While her mother struggles to salvage the safety they've only just found, Carmel tries to come to terms with who she has become. One question, a mystery at the heart of her disappearance as a child, haunts her:What happened to the other lost girls?'As affirming as it is devastating.' CAILEAN STEED'Reads like a shiver down the spine.' ANNA BAILEY'As ever, Kate's prose is beautiful and immersive.' REBECCA WHITNEYPraise for Kate Hamer:'Deliciously dark.' CLARE MACKINTOSH'Keeps the reader turning pages at a frantic clip.' CELESTE NG'Her writing is as vivid, nasty and beautiful as a bruise.' METRO**Read the start of Carmel and Beth's story in The Girl in the Red Coat - available now!**

'Beautifully written, intense.' LISA BALLANTYNE'A thrilling, emotive and heartfelt mystery.' CHRIS WHITAKERFROM THE AUTHOR OF BESTSELLING DEBUT THE GIRL IN THE RED COATLost, she narrowly escaped disaster.Beth is desperate to return to normality. After a years-long ordeal, her daughter is finally home and safe. But Carmel has questions she can't ignore about the cult that kidnapped her, and about the preacher who gave her another girl's name.Found, she must survive a miracle.Digging into her past, Carmel uncovers secrets which suggest that she wasn't the only lost girl - and which puts her in danger all over again. While her mother struggles to salvage the safety they've only just found, Carmel tries to come to terms with who she has become. One question, a mystery at the heart of her disappearance as a child, haunts her:What happened to the other lost girls?'As affirming as it is devastating.' CAILEAN STEED'Reads like a shiver down the spine.' ANNA BAILEY'As ever, Kate's prose is beautiful and immersive.' REBECCA WHITNEYPraise for Kate Hamer:'Deliciously dark.' CLARE MACKINTOSH'Keeps the reader turning pages at a frantic clip.' CELESTE NG'Her writing is as vivid, nasty and beautiful as a bruise.' METRO**Read the start of Carmel and Beth's story in The Girl in the Red Coat - available now!**

Shortlisted for the 2015 Costa First Novel AwardShortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award'Mesmerising, compulsive, deliciously dark' LUCY FOLEYCarmel is missing - but doesn't know she's lost.When sensitive, distracted eight-year-old Carmel becomes separated from her mother at a local children's festival, a man claiming to be her estranged grandfather finds her - and takes her.Unable to accept the possibility that her daughter might be gone for good, Beth makes it her mission to find her. But in what she's told is her new family, Carmel has embarked on an extraordinary journey, one that will make her question who she is - and who she might become.'Keeps the reader turning pages at a frantic clip . . . What's most powerful here is not whodunnit, or even why, but how this mother and daughter bear their separation.' CELESTE NG

Shortlisted for the 2015 Costa First Novel AwardShortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award'Mesmerising, compulsive, deliciously dark' LUCY FOLEYCarmel is missing - but doesn't know she's lost.When sensitive, distracted eight-year-old Carmel becomes separated from her mother at a local children's festival, a man claiming to be her estranged grandfather finds her - and takes her.Unable to accept the possibility that her daughter might be gone for good, Beth makes it her mission to find her. But in what she's told is her new family, Carmel has embarked on an extraordinary journey, one that will make her question who she is - and who she might become.'Keeps the reader turning pages at a frantic clip . . . What's most powerful here is not whodunnit, or even why, but how this mother and daughter bear their separation.' CELESTE NG

My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. They're not my real parents, but they tell me what to do, and what to say. But there are things I won't say. I won't tell them I'm going to hunt for my real parents. I don't say a word about Shadow, who sits on the stairs, or the Wasp Lady I saw. Or that I'm a hunter for lost souls.I'm going to be with my real family. And I won't let anyone stop me.

My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. They're not my real parents, but they tell me what to do, and what to say. I'm supposed to say that the bruises on my arms and the black eye came from falling down the stairs.But there are things I won't say. I won't tell them I'm going to hunt for my real parents. I don't say a word about Shadow, who sits on the stairs, or the Wasp Lady I saw on the way to bed.I did tell Mick that I saw the woman in the buttercup dress, hanging upside down from her seat belt deep in the forest at the back of our house. I told him I saw death crawl out of her. He said he'd give me a medal for lying.I wasn't lying. I'm a hunter for lost souls and I'm going to be with my real family. And I'm not going to let Mick stop me.

Phoebe stands on Pulteney Bridge, tights gashed from toe to thigh. The shock of mangled metal and blood-stained walls flashes through her mind as she tries to cover her face so she won't be recognised. It wouldn't do to be spotted looking like this. She's missing a shoe. She feels sick.Phoebe thought murder and murder happened. Thoughts are just thoughts, they said. Now she knows they were wrong.At home, Phoebe arranges the scissors and knives so they point toward her mother's room. She is exhausted, making sure there's no trace of herself - not a single hair, not even her scent - left anywhere in the house. She must not let her thoughts unravel, because if they do, there's no telling who might be caught in the crossfire, and Phoebe will have to live with the consequences.

'Mesmerising, compulsive, deliciously dark - and so good on the complex and thorny bond between friends. Kate Hamer's writing is incandescent.' Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting PartyPhoebe stands on Pulteney Bridge, tights gashed from toe to thigh. The shock of mangled metal and blood-stained walls flashes through her mind as she tries to cover her face so she won't be recognised. It wouldn't do to be spotted looking like this. She's missing a shoe. She feels sick.Phoebe thought murder and murder happened. Thoughts are just thoughts, they said. Now she knows they were wrong.At home, Phoebe arranges the scissors and knives so they point toward her mother's room. She is exhausted, making sure there's no trace of herself - not a single hair, not even her scent - left anywhere in the house. She must not let her thoughts unravel, because if they do, there's no telling who might be caught in the crossfire, and Phoebe will have to live with the consequences.

'Beautifully written, intense.' LISA BALLANTYNE'A thrilling, emotive and heartfelt mystery.' CHRIS WHITAKERFROM THE AUTHOR OF BESTSELLING DEBUT THE GIRL IN THE RED COATLost, she narrowly escaped disaster.Beth is desperate to return to normality. After a years-long ordeal, her daughter is finally home and safe. But Carmel has questions she can't ignore about the cult that kidnapped her, and about the preacher who gave her another girl's name.Found, she must survive a miracle.Digging into her past, Carmel uncovers secrets which suggest that she wasn't the only lost girl - and which puts her in danger all over again. While her mother struggles to salvage the safety they've only just found, Carmel tries to come to terms with who she has become. One question, a mystery at the heart of her disappearance as a child, haunts her:What happened to the other lost girls?'As affirming as it is devastating.' CAILEAN STEED'Reads like a shiver down the spine.' ANNA BAILEY'As ever, Kate's prose is beautiful and immersive.' REBECCA WHITNEYPraise for Kate Hamer:'Deliciously dark.' CLARE MACKINTOSH'Keeps the reader turning pages at a frantic clip.' CELESTE NG'Her writing is as vivid, nasty and beautiful as a bruise.' METRO**Read the start of Carmel and Beth's story in The Girl in the Red Coat - available now!**

'Beautifully written, intense.' LISA BALLANTYNE'A thrilling, emotive and heartfelt mystery.' CHRIS WHITAKERFROM THE AUTHOR OF BESTSELLING DEBUT THE GIRL IN THE RED COATLost, she narrowly escaped disaster.Beth is desperate to return to normality. After a years-long ordeal, her daughter is finally home and safe. But Carmel has questions she can't ignore about the cult that kidnapped her, and about the preacher who gave her another girl's name.Found, she must survive a miracle.Digging into her past, Carmel uncovers secrets which suggest that she wasn't the only lost girl - and which puts her in danger all over again. While her mother struggles to salvage the safety they've only just found, Carmel tries to come to terms with who she has become. One question, a mystery at the heart of her disappearance as a child, haunts her:What happened to the other lost girls?'As affirming as it is devastating.' CAILEAN STEED'Reads like a shiver down the spine.' ANNA BAILEY'As ever, Kate's prose is beautiful and immersive.' REBECCA WHITNEYPraise for Kate Hamer:'Deliciously dark.' CLARE MACKINTOSH'Keeps the reader turning pages at a frantic clip.' CELESTE NG'Her writing is as vivid, nasty and beautiful as a bruise.' METRO**Read the start of Carmel and Beth's story in The Girl in the Red Coat - available now!**