My Darling Boy

A deliciously vengeful and sinister suspense novel, about two women whose friendship cracks after one of their sons murders the other’s from the author of The Downstairs Neighbor and The Couple in the Photo.

In a close-knit English village, Chrissy and Alice were once best friends. So were their sons Leo and Robbie. Until the night Leo killed Robbie with a single, devastating punch. Leo went to prison, Chrissy lost her pub, and Alice poured her anger into a twisted project: leading a village committee to take over Chrissy’s ＂cursed＂ bar.

When Leo is given early parole, the villagers are incensed and fearful about the prospect of his return. But as Chrissy arrives to collect Leo from prison, he isn’t there. The prison staff tell her he has already been released, but nobody knows where he’s gone.

As the village closes ranks, Chrissy realizes her former friends are suspects in her son’s disappearance, not least still-bitter Alice. Is this about Leo and what happened that terrible night? Or does it go further back, into a dark past none of them wants to revisit?

Helen Cooper is the author of The Other Guest, The Downstairs Neighbor, and The Couple in the Photo. She is from Derby and has a MA in Creative Writing and a background in teaching English and Academic Writing. Her creative writing has been published in Mslexia and Writers’ Forum; she was shortlisted in the Bath Short Story Prize in 2014, and came third in the Leicester Writes Short Story Prize 2018.