"One of Our Books of the Year 2017 | CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2017 Winner.
Shortlisted for the Last Laugh Award at the CrimeFest Awards 2017."
A first British crime novel, albeit set in a small American community, that appeared a few months ago and only recently came to my attention, Tall Oaks takes a sometimes hackneyed theme and turns it into a thing of wonder. A small child has gone missing, apparently kidnapped and we follow how a group of varied inhabitants of Tall Oaks are affected by the disappearance in an atmosphere reminiscent of both Twin Peaks and Fargo, as the tale that unfolds sensitively blends pathos and even tragedy with an affectionate sense of the absurd and the comic. The grieving mother falls into a downward spiral of despair and degradation, the errant father remains suspiciously absent and uninvolved, the policemen investigating the case obstinately fights against the odds and his own, terrible attraction to one of the suspects, a group of local teenagers, including a splendidly comic figure who aims to become the town's master criminal and dresses ridiculously to cultivate his image, his Syrian refugee acolyte and sidekick, the slightly retarded mother's boy who works at the photo shop, a forlorn waitress and a host of other striking characters take the stage in turn as the story develops and races to a both abominably poignant and also comic conclusion that ties all the threads together most satisfactorily. A gem of a story. Stunning. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
***FROM THE AUTHOR OF WE BEGIN AT THE END, 2020's MOST CAPTIVATING AND UNFORGETTABLE READ, DESCRIBED BY RUTH JONES AS 'SURELY DESTINED TO CONQUER THE WORLD'***'Noir has an anarchic new voice' SARAH HILARY'A brilliant, beautiful, sad, funny book . . . also made me cry more than any other book I've read this year' EMMA FLINTISN'T IT ABOUT TIME THAT YOU MADE A DATE TO VISIT TALL OAKS? Tall Oaks is an idyllic small town, until the disappearance of a young child throws the tight-knit community into crisis.Jess Monroe, the boy's distraught mother, is simultaneously leading the search and battling her own grief and self-destructive behaviour. Her neighbours watch on, their sympathy masking a string of dark secrets.This is a small town where nothing is as it seems, and everyone has something to hide. And as the investigation draws towards a climax, prepare for a devastating final twist . . .Dark, full of suspense and packed with twists, this brilliant new thriller is like nothing you've read before. SEE WHAT THE WORLD IS ALREADY SAYING ABOUT THIS BRILLIANT DEBUT NOVEL'An absolute delight . . . Highly original' LAURA WILSON, GUARDIAN'Completely blew me away' LISA HALL'One of the best books I've read this year' JO SPAIN'Chris Whitaker builds an entire town in the reader's head and masterfully inhabits it with comic, poignant, gripping life. Tall Oaks becomes a part of you' DAVID WHITEHOUSE'It's rare that a novel can be both brilliantly comic and tragic, and balance the two so effortlessly' SUN'A gripping debut' MAIL ON SUNDAY
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