This story begins in 1992, with a beach combing boy in a coastal town. Along with shells and flotsam, the boy finds the decomposing head of a girl. In the present day, we meet Peg, her grandmother and aunt. Peg has been raised by them in their bungalow, remembering little about the time 'before'. Now, however, Peg's grandmother displays all the signs of advancing dementia and her aunt, disabled since birth, is now so enormous that she can't leave her bed.
But the influence of Peg's partner, and her own gradual memory recoveries, begin to haunt her. Why didn't she know about the death of an infant uncle? And where is her father? Did her mother really die the way she had always believed?
With her whole life in turmoil, Peg begins to realise that her past is much more complicated than she ever imagined. Even dangerous, and from a quarter that she wouldn't have considered in a million years.
Suspenseful, chilling and can't-put-downable, a book to make you realise that even the most innocuous places can hide unexpected secrets. Recommended.
'Tarnished' is published by Hodder Headline, ISBN 978-0-7553-7805-0
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