Description

Perfect for fans of Belinda Bauer and Ruth Ware, DEAD MILE is the most relatable locked-room mystery you’ll ever read, set on a gridlocked motorway during rush hour

‘I LOVED IT’ T. M. LOGAN
‘SPELLBINDINGLY ORIGINAL AND UTTERLY COMPELLING’ JACK JORDAN
‘AN INVENTIVE, GRIPPING TAKE ON A LOCKED ROOM MYSTERY’ HARRIET TYCE

Friday afternoon, and the traffic is bloody murder.

Sergeant Belinda ‘Billy’ Kidd is driving home from the airport, jet-lagged and ready to resign from a career that has left her traumatised. Menopause has robbed her confidence too – now she’s a traffic cop who’s afraid to drive. When brake lights haemorrhage up the motorway, the cars grind to a halt. Moments later she finds a dead driver in a black sedan.

He has a metal skewer in his neck. But how? The killer can’t have left the scene without being spotted by the dozens of witnesses – so he must still be there, among them. If the traffic jam stays put, they’re all in danger; if the traffic clears, she’ll lose her suspect. The clock is ticking, but she doesn’t know how fast.

‘A WHITE-KNUCKLE RIDE … TIGHTLY-PLOTTED AND INTRICATE’ HEATHER CRITCHLOW
‘AN INGENIOUS, HIGH-OCTANE PAGE-TURNER’ KATE SLIMANTS
‘SMART, WITTY AND BRILLIANTLY ORIGINAL’ WILLIAM SHAW

**Loved DEAD MILE? Don’t miss Jo Furniss’ next unmissable thriller, GUILT TRIP, AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW**

Publisher Review

A brilliant cop, a highly entertaining story and a smart new take on the ‘locked room’ mystery make for a winning combination. I loved it! * T.M. Logan, author of The Mother and The Holiday * An inventive, gripping take on a locked room mystery * Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange * Spellbindingly original and utterly compelling – Jo Furniss takes the locked room mystery to entirely new heights. Strap yourselves in… Dead Mile is one hell of a ride! * Jack Jordan, author of Do No Harm * A new take on the locked-room mystery. The action is brisk, the characters are vividly drawn, and the plot snakes around the throat. A tense and ingenious ‘locked-traffic’ thriller * Vaseem Khan * Such an original concept with brilliantly drawn characters, I honestly felt I was stuck out in the blistering heat on the tarmac of the motorway with them. DEAD MILE is a fantastic read – a pacy page turner with a twisty plot and a sense of tension that doesn’t let up until the final page. Loved it. * Nikki Smith, author of Look What You Made Me Do * I absolutely loved it. The traffic might be at a standstill but this is a pedal-to-the-metal thriller from page one. The riotously grumpy Sergeant Kidd is my new best mate, and the rest of the complex, expertly-drawn cast make for an ingenious, high-octane page-turner with twists and turns worthy of a Formula 1 course. Utterly brilliant. * Kate Simants, author of Freeze * Dead Mile has done a very clever thing in taking a situation we’ve all been in and turned it into a high concept thriller. Because who hasn’t drawn to a standstill in motorway traffic and not wondered at their lives of the people in the cars around them. A high octane ride of stalled traffic, stuck lives, terrorist attacks and a murder in plain sight, with a very satisfying ending. * Araminta Hall, author of One of the Good Guys * (Traffic) jam packed with mystery, humour, unforgettable characters and a killer who could be sitting in the car next to yours, there are plenty of twists and turns on this stretch of road! Page-turning brilliance * Joanna Wallace, author of You’d Look Better As a Ghost * Takes you on a white-knuckle ride. A tightly-plotted and intricate thriller with a rich cast of characters and dark vein of humour, Dead Mile will keep you guessing to the final pages * Heather Critchlow, author of Unsolved * An exquisitely written locked room mystery with no locks and no rooms … an extraordinary and beautifully written whodunnit where Furniss brilliantly pulls all the intricate strands together in a stunning denouement you won’t see coming * Graham Bartlett, author of Bad for Good * Fasten your seatbelts! Jo Furniss has smashed her driving test by turning what’s surely the first ever locked-car mystery into a thrilling ride. If Agatha Christie did traffic jams … * Trevor Wood, author of The Man on the Street * A smart, witty, brilliantly original read – and it’s the best thriller you’ll read this year * William Shaw, author of the DS Alex Cupidi series * Bruised and battered and thrust into the most impossible of situations, Sergeant Billy Kidd is the hero we all need. Jo Furniss has created something fresh and new from the locked room genre * Sam Holland, author of The Echo Man * A brilliantly executed fresh take on a locked room mystery. Dead Mile is a gripping, grid-locked masterclass in how to how to ratchet up the tension! Devoured it in one sitting! * Robert Rutherford, author of Seven Days * Addictive, original and utterly gripping, Dead Mile is a truly compelling and inventive take on the locked room mystery, packed with menace and tension. For everyone who has ever eyed the other travellers in a traffic jam and wondered what their stories – and secrets – might be * Kate Helm, author of The House Share * I absolutely loved DEAD MILE – a genuinely unique and fast-paced thriller. DEAD MILE moves along at breakneck speed to a satisfying conclusion. Bravo Jo Furniss, queen of the gridlocked thriller! * Niki Mackay, author of The Due Date * Tense, thrilling and brilliantly written, Dead Mile is a unique modern murder mystery with an absolutely cracking main character * S R Masters, author of The Trial * Fasten your seatbelt, because Dead Mile is a fabulously pulse-pounding crime thriller, an adrenaline rush and a literary joyride like no other! * Cameron Ward, author of A Stranger On Board * A super-smart 21st century reinvention of the classic locked room mystery – kept me gripped from start to finish * Frances Quinn, author of The Smallest Man * Absolutely gripping … a fresh take on the classic locked room mystery * Fliss Chester, author of the Cressida Fawcett Mysteries * Traffic has never been so deadly! A tightly fitted jigsaw of character, tension, murder and road rage, Dead Mile is claustrophobic beyond belief. With the coolest cop in town to piece it all together, you will fall in love with Billy. She’s out there, on her own, just bad-assing the motorways. It’s full throttle * Rachael Blok, author of Under the Ice * Dead Mile takes a brilliant concept and turns it into a gripping race against time in the most unlikely of places, a traffic jam, with Belinda battling frustrated drivers, shady characters and her own body, to uncover a murderer amongst the motorists. * James Delargy, author of 55 * A smart, funny, scorching summer thriller that makes inventive use of its gridlocked motorway setting, with a deeply human protagonist I was cheering for at every turn. A blisteringly original take on the classic locked-room mystery. * Emma Styles, author of No Country for Girls * A total page-turner. If ever I’m stuck in a motorway jam I’ll be locking the doors * Lesley Thomson, author of The Detective’s Daughter series * A cracking page-turner! Smart, original, and packed with pace. I loved Sergeant Kidd and the host of other characters. The perfect twist on a locked-room mystery * Lauren North, author of The Perfect Betrayal * Fascinating characters, delicious dark humour and a killer plot; the most intriguing “locked room” mystery I’ve read to date! * Jackie Kabler, author of The Perfect Couple * I read it in one sitting and had no idea what was coming. Billy is a fantastic protagonist: an all-too real-superwoman * Julia Crouch, author of Her Husband’s Lover * Fun, gripping and original. Buckle up for a breathless ride * David Fennell, author of the DI Grace Archer series *