She is his doctor. He will be her downfall.
The bestselling phenomenon returns…
‘Beautifully paced’ CARA HUNTER
‘Beautifully written with an achingly real romance at its heart’ SARAH HILARY
‘A masterclass in upmarket thriller writing’ CHARLOTTE PHILBY
‘I raced through it!’ EMMA CURTIS
When Rachel, a GP in Salisbury, meets Luc, the attraction between them is instant. But Rachel is married with a daughter – and Luc isn’t well.
Despite themselves, a heady love affair begins – one that threatens to risk everything Rachel has worked for. And when someone in the town is found dead, the spotlight turns to Luc. Torn between her career, her marriage and her heart, Rachel finds herself in the middle of something much darker than she could have imagined…
A beautifully written domestic suspense story from the master of the what-if novel.
PRAISE FOR THE PATIENT:
‘This elegant, multi-layered story has taken my breath away. Much more than a murder mystery, it explores mental health, middle age, marriage and love, while luring you to the edge of your seat’ JANICE HALLETT
‘A powerful obsession turns dark in this gripping tale of desire, betrayal and murder’ T.M. LOGAN
‘Constantly surprising’ THE SUNDAY TIMES
‘With plenty of tension and shocking moments, this atmospheric story is perfect for fans of Apple Tree Yard and Doctor Foster’ CANDIS MAGAZINE
'A breath-taking dissection of a marriage' Woman & Home
‘A compelling sense of place, good twists, and a tense, intense ending’ Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal
‘We absolutely loved this . . . It's difficult to believe that this accomplished book is a debut’ Richard & Judy Book Club
‘Utterly gripping. A tautly-coiled spring of suspicion and suspense which builds to a devastating ending’ Mail on Sunday
‘Gave me goosebumps’ Claire Douglas, author of Then She Vanishes
‘Jane Shemilt has a talent for taking you into her world – but be careful. It might not be what you think…’ Jane Corry, Sunday Times bestselling author of I Made A Mistake
‘Beautifully written and suffused with dread. A compelling literary thriller’ Gilly Macmillan, bestselling author of The Nanny
Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of The Drowning Lessons by Jane Shemilt, read by Deryn Edwards.
The haunting new novel from the author of 2014's stunning Richard and Judy Book Club bestseller Daughter
The press conference, one year ago
Our home is a crime scene now.
I am in yesterday's clothes. The clothes in which I kissed Sam goodbye. Then he'd belonged only to us. Now his image will be shared with the world.
We should be grateful.
'Our son . . . Sam . . .' My eyes fill with tears, the writing on the paper blurs. 'Someone took him. Please help us . . .'
I back away from the microphone, the paper falls from my hands.
The anniversary
The Jordan family thought they would return from their gap year abroad enriched, better people, a closer family.
Not minus one child.
A year on, Emma remains haunted by the image of that empty cot, thousands of miles away, the chasm between her and the rest of the family growing with each day that Sam remains missing. Is her son still out there? Will the mystery about what happened that night ever be unravelled?
Praise for Daughter
'Utterly gripping. A tautly coiled spring of suspicion and suspense which builds to a devastating ending' Mail On Sunday
'Complex and baffling. Jane Shemilt builds layer upon layer of tension in a novel you won't be able to put down' Tess Gerritsen
'Ostensibly a suspense novel about the disappearance of a teenage girl, this taut and thought-provoking debut novel explores a working mother's guilt, something all-too familiar to many of us' Woman & Home
Jenny is a successful family doctor, the mother of three great teenagers, married to a celebrated neurosurgeon.
But when her youngest child, fifteen-year-old Naomi, doesn't come home after her school play, Jenny's seemingly ideal life begins to crumble. The authorities launch a nationwide search with no success. Naomi has vanished, and her family is broken.
As the months pass, the worst-case scenarios—kidnapping, murder—seem less plausible. The trail has gone cold. Yet for a desperate Jenny, the search has barely begun. More than a year after her daughter's disappearance, she's still digging for answers—and what she finds disturbs her. Everyone she's trusted, everyone she thought she knew, has been keeping secrets, especially Naomi. Piecing together the traces her daughter left behind, Jenny discovers a very different Naomi from the girl she thought she'd raised.
Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Daughter by Jane Shemilt, read by Sophie Aldred.
'I still don't know why we had to check. Did we really think you would be there, curled up and sleeping on the stage? That we would put our arms round you, and take you home?'
Naomi has vanished, leaving her family broken and her mother Jenny desperately searching for answers. But the traces fifteen-year-old Naomi's left behind reveal a very different girl to the one Jenny thought she'd raised. And the more she looks the more she learns that everyone she trusted has been keeping secrets.
But will discovering the real Naomi help to find her?
Praise for Daughter
'We absolutely loved this book. It's about a GP and her family and the sudden horror that devastates their lives when their 16-year-old daughter disappears one night. It's difficult to believe that this accomplished book is a debut' Judy Finnigan, Richard and Judy book club
'Ostensibly a suspense novel about the disappearance of a teenage girl, this taut and thought-provoking debut novel explores a working mother's guilt, something all-too familiar to many of us' Woman & Home
'Complex and baffling. Jane Shemilt builds layer upon layer of tension in a novel you won't be able to put down' Tess Gerritsen
'Gripping to the last page!' My Weekly
'Thrilling' Sunday Express
'Clever' Sun
'Taut and thought-provoking' Sunday Mirror
'Utterly gripping. A tautly coiled spring of suspicion and suspense which builds to a devastating ending' Mail On Sunday
'A wonderful plot, full of tantalising reasons to read on, and of course with a killer twist at the end. What impressed me most was (. . .) the impossibility of truly knowing those closest to us, the pressures of parenthood - in particular working motherhood, and the terrible loss at the heart of all parenting: they grow up and away' Christopher Wakling, author of What I Did
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