Jessica Mayhew is a sharp, successful therapist with a thriving practice and loving family. But the arrival of a new client, actor Gwydion Morgan, coincides with a turbulent moment in her life: her husband has just confessed to a one-night stand with a younger woman. The son of a famous stage director, Gwydion is good-looking and talented but mentally fragile, tormented by an intriguing phobia. When Jessica receives a frantic call warning that he is suicidal, she decides to make a house call.
The Morgans live in a grand clifftop mansion overlooking the rocky Welsh coast. It seems to be a remote paradise, but there's something sinister about it too: Jessica learns that the family's former au pair drowned in the bay under mysterious circumstances. In her quest to help Gwydion, to whom she's grown increasingly attached, Jessica becomes ensnared in the Morgan family mystery, which soon becomes an explosive public scandalβone that puts her directly in harm's way. Meanwhile, Jessica is doing her best to keep her marriage and family together, but her growing attraction to Gwydion is impossible to ignore.
Smart, stylish, and suspenseful, The House on the Cliff announces the arrival of a winning female protagonist in Jessica Mayhew and an exciting new crime writer in Charlotte Williams.
Review
βA tightly focused psychological drama. . . . The setting provides the perfect backdrop for a tale of raw emotions and explosive rage. I look forward to more outings for Williamsβs cool, clever, yet flawed psychological sleuth.β (The Independent on Sunday)
βAn accomplished debut. . . . A pacey, intriguing psychological thriller.β (The Guardian)
βWilliamsβs first crime novel features an appropriately moody setting, a suspenseful climax, and a winning protagonist likely to attract trouble.β (Booklist)
βThis solid domestic suspense debut, nicely seasoned with gothic elements, should please Gone Girl fans and those who crave a real page-turner. . . . Readers will admire how Williams has created such believable characters and how she weaves effectively psychological theories throughout.β (Library Journal (starred review))
About the Author
After studying philosophy in college, Charlotte Williams went on to work as an arts journalist, writing for newspapers and magazines, and making documentaries for the BBC. She now works in radio drama, writing original plays and adaptations.