Hanging Hill

Starred review from December 12, 2011
In this superb stand-alone from British author Hayder (Pig Island), the brutal murder of 16-year-old Lorne Wood, found dead in a park with words written on her corpse, draws together the Benedict sisters, Zoë and Sally, who have been estranged for years, despite both living in the city of Bath. Career-driven Zoë, a detective inspector, takes issue with her team’s reliance on a forensic psychologist. Pursuing her own line of investigation, Zoë discovers that Lorne’s modeling aspirations may have led the girl away from the catwalk and into something much seedier. Complacent Sally, a divorced mother, must take on extra housecleaning jobs to keep up with the spending of her teenage daughter, who was acquainted with Lorne. Reluctantly, Sally agrees to work extra hours for a rich businessman she soon learns makes his fortune in hardcore pornography. Secrets, both past and present, bind the sisters yet threaten to ruin multiple lives. Hayder uses her trademark violence to perfect sinister effect. Agent: Jane Gregory.

March 26, 2012
Zoe and Sally are two estranged sisters living in Bath, England. Sally is a mousy, recently divorced mother, while Zoe is a tough, career-minded detective inspector. But the two are drawn back together by a circuitous series of dangerous and deadly events that begin with the brutal murder of a teenage girl and will change their lives and relationship dramatically. Rosalyn Landon’s calm, skillfully accented narration perfectly captures the mood of Hayder’s thrilling mystery. But it’s the narrator’s portrayal of the characters that truly shines. Landor’s rendition of the timorous Sally is perfect, as is her interpretation of the stronger but troubled Zoe. And Landor is just as adept in her layered portrayals of the teenagers, pompous thugs, witchy wives, and other supporting characters that populate the novel. An Atlantic Monthly hardcover.