Secrets on the Fells

'It's brilliant! Buy it!' Ann Cleeves on The Fells

One bitter winter's night, Detectives Donovan and Young are called to Fountains Abbey. A crumbling ruin out on the wild and windswept Yorkshire Fells. Where the air hangs heavy with local legend, ancient secrets and now the overpowering tang of freshly spilled blood.

College teacher Patrick Armitage lies sprawled across the stones, in a gory crimson pool. His handsome face is a mask of shock and disbelief.

Because Patrick's not just been murdered. He's been slaughtered. Stabbed over and over in the coldest blood.

Patrick was a devoted family man and everyone's favourite drama teacher. Does that make him a tragic victim - or a consummate actor, who kept his true self hidden behind a spotless façade?

The deeper Donovan and Young dig, the more they realize that no one in this baffling case is quite what they seem.

Least of all Patrick's grief-stricken widow. She begs the detectives for answers, but meets every question with hostile silence.

Then a vulnerable young witness vanishes from college.

And Young knows, with spine-tingling certainty, that Patrick's killer is not done yet . . .

Discover a gripping, emotionally charged crime thriller, set against the brooding beauty of the Yorkshire Fells. Perfect for fans of Ann Cleeves, Angela Marsons, J.R. Ellis, Val McDermid and Joy Ellis.

**Cath Staincliffe has been shortlisted six times for the prestigious CWA Dagger Awards.**

WHAT EVERYONE IS SAYING ABOUT CATH STAINCLIFFE:

'A real knockout.' Ian Rankin

'One of the best police procedurals I've read this year.' Ann Cleeves

'A star in the firmament of British crime fiction.' Big Issue

'Mercilessly exciting.' Daily Telegraph

'Such a good writer.' The Times

'Powerful, complex and utterly gripping.' Sunday Mirror

'Ripped from the headlines and totally scary.' Irish Independent

'Real suspense.' The Guardian

'A swift, satisfying read.' City Life

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'An absolutely cracking read, fast paced, absolutely believable, I loved this DCI and found myself rooting for her.' Pinkmouse

THE DETECTIVES

Detective Leo Donovan is a veteran of the Yorkshire force. A true empath, he's happily married, but prone to low moods and bouts of arthritis. Compassion motivates him, and a need to see justice done in a flawed world that is seldom fair. Leo's wayward son drives him to distraction, but working with his partner Shan is a breath of fresh air.

Detective Shan Young is a rising star of Leo's team. She lands her first case as detective while pregnant. Not that she's fazed by it. A salt-of-the-earth Yorkshire lass with Chinese heritage, she often feels caught between two cultures - something which makes her appreciate Leo all the more, as a mentor and a friend.

THE SETTING

Welcome to the Yorkshire Dales, an untamed landscape of fells and valleys, waterfalls and ruined barns, deep, dark caves and windswept limestone pavements. Farming and mining have shaped these remote hills over the centuries. But what secrets lie buried beneath the spectacularly beautiful surface?