The Darkest Secret

June 13, 2016
In Edgar-winner Marwood’s compulsively readable if not wholly satisfying psychological thriller, real estate magnate Sean Jackson throws himself an elaborate 50th birthday bash in the posh British seaside town of Bournemouth one summer weekend in 2004. When Sean’s touchy second wife, Claire, fires the nanny before the weekend, the couple take charge of their three-year-old twins, Coco and Ruby. Then Coco disappears overnight from the room she shares with Ruby at the Jackson holiday home and is never seen again. Twelve years later, Sean is dead of a heart attack, discovered handcuffed to a bed with a woman who isn’t his fourth wife. Mila, one of Sean’s daughters by his first marriage, reluctantly identifies the body and later agrees to accompany Ruby to Sean’s funeral. The toxic Jackson family air soon envelops the half-sisters amid the lingering questions surrounding Coco’s disappearance. Marwood (The Killer Next Door) shifts time periods effortlessly and creates a noxious cast of characters, but keen readers may predict the final twist. Five-city author tour. Agent: Laetitia Rutherford, Watson, Little (U.K.).

June 15, 2016
For readers who prefer their psychological thrillers dark, twisty, and filled with loathsome people, Marwood serves up the perfect dish in this story of very rich people, a missing twin, and an ill-fated weekend.When 3-year-old Coco Jackson disappeared from a huge, expensive mansion in one of Britain's toniest neighborhoods, she left behind an enduring modern mystery. The daughter--one of a pair of twins--of Sean Jackson, a millionaire land developer with a tendency to shed wives like old shoes, Coco vanished from her bed during her father's 50th birthday party, but the weekend was difficult even before that. Claire, Sean's wife and the mother of twins Coco and Ruby, fired the nanny in a jealous fit of pique before the party got rolling and spent most of her time feuding with her wandering spouse. Add in an unwelcome surprise visit from Camilla and India, the daughters from Sean's first marriage, and a mishmash of characters who include a teenager with an unhealthy crush on the birthday boy, and Marwood sets up a gathering that's unlikely to be remembered fondly by anyone present. The story shifts from the weekend Coco vanished in 2004 to the present, when the grown-up and still belligerent Camilla is notified that her father has been found dead in a hotel room, handcuffed to the bed. Camilla traces her difficult relationship with her dad while the flashbacks examine the hard-partying and irresponsible scene Sean and his friends indulged on the weekend Coco disappeared. Marwood introduces a boatload of characters early in the game, making for a bit of character soup, but she's a skilled writer who eventually turns a meandering narrative into a cohesive story. Marwood's tale proves unsatisfying and unsettling in equal measures.

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May 1, 2016
The abduction of three-year-old Coco Jackson haunts everyone who was at her father Sean's fiftieth birthday party the weekend she disappeared. Twelve years later, Sean's death brings all the players back together. Coco's twin has grown up in a remote village, fiercely protected by her mother. She's escorted to the funeral by Camilla, a daughter from a previous marriage who has been out of touch with her father and his other children for years. Chapters leading up to the funeral alternate with details about the weekend Coco disappeared. As the book progresses, it becomes chillingly clear to the reader that at least one person at that party knows more than what they're saying. The reader's heart sinks and pulse races as the author (The Wicked Girls, 2015) teases out the true story. Marwood is emerging as a first-rate teller of twisted tales and don't let it be so suspense. Think Minette Walters and Barbara Vine with a little Gillian Flynn thrown in.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

March 15, 2016

After one of real estate mogul Sean Jackson's three-year-old twins vanishes at the glittery 50th birthday party he throws himself, Jackson is not the only one whose name is permanently tarnished; party attendees, dubbed the Jackson Associates, are regarded skeptically as well. Accusations are traded when they gather 12 years later for Sean's funeral, which ends with mayhem and a shocking discovery. Marwood's career has so far been resplendent; her debut, The Wicked Girls, won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original, while the follow-up, The Killer Next Door, won a Macavity and has been optioned for film by James Franco. With a five-city tour.

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