It's COVER REVEAL DAY for my new stand-alone thriller THE PARTY HOUSE!
What if a murder happened in your own small community? What if you became a suspect? Or someone close to you did?
That idea has intrigued me for some time, and I decided to take a short break from the Dr Rhona MacLeod series to explore it in the psychological thriller The Party House.
The story takes place in the fictional highland village of Blackrig. Just coming back to life after a pandemic in which five children and their community nurse died, the villagers are furious to discover that the much despised Party House, is to be re-opened, despite the fact that it seeded the deadly virus into the village in the first place.
When a group of local youths act out their anger by destroying the Party House hot tub, the body of missing teenager Ailsa Cummings is discovered in its foundations and the village must relive both her disappearance of five years ago, and now her murder.
This ignites old suspicions, animosities and fear among the villagers, especially the men, who’d known Ailsa at the time of her disappearance. All of whom had become suspects in the enquiry.
Men like local Greg Taylor, whose new partner is Londoner, Joanne Addington, whom he met on a recent business trip. When questioned by Joanne about the missing girl, he angrily refuses to discuss the case.
Joanne, perturbed by his reaction, questions how well she knows Greg, and whether it was wise to move in with him. Then again, he’s not the only one with secrets in their volatile relationship.
When a police team arrives to excavate and forensically examine the remains, they find a resentful and angry population who, it seems, would prefer the past to stay buried.
Rhona MacLeod doesn’t feature in The Party House, although forensic science does.
Rhona will be back in 2023. We first met Rhona in Driftnet in 2003, so next year which will be the 20th year of Forensic Scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod.
Due for publication on 4th August 2022, The Party House by Lin Anderson is a deeply atmospheric psychological thriller set in the Scottish Highlands, for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware and Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium.
CLICK HERE to pre-order from Waterstones.
CLICK HERE to pre-order for Kindle.
~o~
