LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Slipping between two timelines, a web of deceit, corporate cover-ups and human tragedy unfolds in Jane Jesmond’s A Quiet Contagion — a slow-burn thriller that melds family drama and danger with questions around pharmaceutical ethics.
In 2017, Phiney is utterly shocked when her grandfather Wilf jumps from a bridge to his death. Though there was a witness — Mat, a local journalist — she and Wilf’s widow struggle to believe he killed himself. And so the trio set about investigating what happened and why, with their search kicked off when Phiney discovers Wilf once worked for Poulter’s Pharmaceuticals.
The big question is, why had Wilf been reading an old article about the company right before his death? And why had the company’s former chairman died on the same day? As Mat remarks, “there’s always been a whiff of the Wild West about the pharmaceuticals industry”, and a sense of Wild West danger and being a law unto yourself certainly ramps up as shocking secrets are uncovered.
Joanne Owen
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A Quiet Contagion Synopsis
A disquieting contemporary mystery with a historical twist and fast-paced plot, from the author of the Jen Shaw series.
Six decades. Seven people. One unspeakable secret.
1957. A catastrophe occurs at the pharmaceutical lab in Coventry where sixteen-year-old Wilf is working for the summer. A catastrophe that needs to be covered up at all costs.2017. Phiney is shocked by the death of her grandfather, Wilf, who has jumped from a railway bridge at a Coventry station. Journalist Mat Torrington is the only witness.
Left in utter disbelief, with a swarm of unanswered questions, Phiney, Mat and Wilf's wife, Dora, begin their own enquiries into Wilf's death. It is soon clear that these two events, sixty years apart, are connected - and that Wilf is not the only casualty.
But what is the link? And can they find out before any more lives are lost?
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780857308498 |
| Publication date: |
28th November 2023 |
| Author: |
Jane Jesmond |
| Publisher: |
Verve Books an imprint of Oldcastle Books Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
320 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Thriller and Suspense
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| Other Genres: |
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Press Reviews
Jane Jesmond Press Reviews
An original and moving mystery, deftly weaving between past and present to examine a profoundly ethical question that is still deeply relevant today -- Philippa East
A Quiet Contagion is a deeply intelligent novel from a commanding writer. For me, this has it all - a level of detail that makes the book utterly authentic, combined with ethical questions that leave you thinking about it long after you've read the final page, and characters you cannot help but invest in. Tragic, terrifying, and all too real, A Quiet Contagion will have your heart pounding even as you weep -- Helen Fields
Jesmond presents a cracking conundrum then adds a chewy moral dilemma to the mix, dangling a riveting hook before throwing in a ticking time bomb to create a propulsive beating heart... a complex, moving and ultimately satisfying page-turner -- Fiona Erskine
This compulsive thriller blends real events with a clever fictional plot. Thoughtful, topical and gripping, A Quiet Contagion is bound to win Jane Jesmond even more acclaim -- Carolyn Kirby
