A darkly beautiful and modern gothic thriller that tells a gripping story of identity and obsession.
Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, hoping to settle down and leave his past behind him. But fear blisters through the streets, and the locals warn him to avoid a shop known only as Berry & Vincent, where people have been known to come to a bad end. Teddy, however, is strangely determined to discover more about the establishment and why everyone fears its proprietor, and so he takes a job behind its dusty, creepy windows.
Ada moved to Rye with her young son, Albie, to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but here she’s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship but the people of Rye smell the desperation on her.
As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished 50 years earlier, and a community living on a knife-edge. Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed. And inevitably his past will find him here, just as it has always found him before.
And before long, it will find Ada too.
Ronnie Turner grew up in Cornwall, the youngest in a large family. At an early age, she discovered a love of literature. She now lives in the South-West with her family and three dogs and works as a Senior Waterstones Bookseller and barista. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and taking long walks on the coast.
Ronnie is represented by Emily Glenister at the DHHL Literary Agency.