by Belinda Bauer (Author)
Twelve-year-old Steven Lamb digs holes on Exmoor, hoping to find a body. Every day after school, while his classmates swap football stickers, Steven goes digging to lay to rest the ghost of the uncle he never knew, who disappeared aged eleven and is assumed to have fallen victim to the notorious serial killer Arnold Avery. Only Steven's Nan is not convinced her son is dead. She still waits for him to come home, standing bitter guard at the front window while her family fragments around her. Steven is determined to heal the widening cracks between them before it's too late. And if that means presenting his grandmother with the bones of her murdered son, he'll do it. So the boy takes the next logical step, carefully crafting a letter to Arnold Avery in prison. And there begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse game between a desperate child and a bored serial killer ...
Format: Paperback
Pages: 221
Publisher: Corgi
Published: 02 Jan 2010
ISBN 10: 0552158844
ISBN 13: 9780552158848
Book Overview: CWA GOLD DAGGER WINNER FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL OF 2010! A chilling psychological debut, Blacklands introduces an extraordinary new author reminiscent of the best of Minette Walters and Barbara Vine.
Prizes: Winner of CWA Gold Dagger for Fiction 2010.