Murder In Midwinter

Sitting on the top deck of a bus days before Christmas, Maya sees a couple arguing violently in the middle of a crowded Regent Street. They see her watching, she looks away, and the woman disappears. Maya goes to the police, who shrug and send her away. Then a body turns up... Now convinced she is a vital witness to a crime, the police send Maya into hiding in rural Wales. She resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery. Then the snow comes and no one can get out. But what if someone can still get in? From the author of Dear Scarlett and Saving Sophia. 'Fleur Hitchcock... has cornered the market in hard-boilers for beginners.' - Alex O'Connell, The Times 'A taut and exciting thriller. Fleur Hitchcock beautifully captures Maya's sense of unreality and fear as she untangles family relationships along with the mystery.' - Scotsman 'For a young readership, this is surprisingly no-holds-barred, but it handles a potentially traumatising subject with just the right balance of tenderness and gusto.' - The School Librarian

Born in Chobham and raised outside Winchester, Fleur Hitchcock grew up as the youngest child of three. She spent her smallest years reading Tintin and Batman, and searching for King Alfred's treasure. She grew up a little, went away to school near Farnham, studied English in Wales, and, for the next twenty years, sold Applied Art in the city of Bath. When her younger child was seven, she embarked on the Writing for Young People MA at Bath Spa and graduated with a distinction. Now living outside Bath, between parenting and writing, Fleur works with her husband, a toymaker, looks after other people's gardens and tries to grow vegetables.