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** AN OBSERVER BEST BOOK OF YEAR **

‘Ward’s most complex and brilliant book yet’ – GUARDIAN
‘A darkly moving and heartfelt exploration of obsession’ – DAILY EXPRESS

Writers are monsters. We eat everything we see…

In a windswept cottage overlooking the sea, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of his childhood companions and the shadowy figure of the Daggerman, who stalked their New England town. And it is the story of Sky, Wilder’s one-time friend, who stole his unfinished memoir to turn it into a lurid bestselling novel, then died without ever explaining why.

This book is Wilder’s last chance for revenge. But as he writes, he begins to find notes written in Sky’s signature green ink, and events in his manuscript start to chime eerily with the present. Is Sky haunting him? And who is the dark-haired woman drowning in the cove, whom no one else can see? With his grip on reality slipping, Wilder begins to fear that this will not only be his last book, but the last thing he ever does…

‘So beautiful, so dark and so vivid’ – JENNIFER SAINT
‘A beautifully sinister tale of perception and identity’ – JOANNE HARRIS
‘Enthralling and heartbreaking’ – M.R. CAREY

Publisher Review

A wonderful piece of Gothic sleight-of-hand; a beautifully sinister tale of perception and identity that had me enthralled from the first page — Joanne Harris, author of CHOCOLAT A tricksy book… Genuinely unsettling * The Times * Eerie and disturbing, it is another darkly atmospheric slice of the literary horror/thriller genre that Ward is making her own * Observer * Ward’s most complex and brilliant book yet… Intense, psychologically acute and atmospheric * Guardian * A slow-burn psycho-thriller in which Lewis Carroll meets Stephen King * Times (Crime Club) * A darkly moving and heartfelt exploration of obsession and betrayal that lingers long in the memory * Daily Express * Unbelievably good… so clever, so haunting and melancholic. A novel about obsession, love and loss; an exploration of trauma and delusion; a meditation on writing and what it means to create, to be trapped in a world of your own making, tormented by your own characters. It’s so beautiful, so dark and so vivid — Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE This twisted tale of ghosts and murderers, derailed lives and childhood traumas is a vertical labyrinth that will take you straight down into the heart of darkness. Enthralling and heartbreaking — M. R. Carey, author of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS This gripping horror is a masterful exploration of storytelling. It will lure you to the dark side before quietly blowing your mind, time after time. A haunting tale of friendship, creativity and revenge, with prose as deep and sweeping as the cliffs of Looking Glass Sound itself — Janice Hallett, author of THE APPEAL An evocative, bone-chilling read, exploring grief storytelling and the dark forces of obsession. Catriona’s writing is complex, challenging and beautiful in equal measure. A tale to savour — Sarah Pearse, author of THE SANATORIUM I loved every word… an irresistible, beautifully written story powered by dread and fascination with the unknown — A.J. Finn, author of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW Relentlessly inventive, insidiously creepy and just so cool and clever. I inhaled it in two days. It’s nightmarish, dreamy, luminous with beauty and menace. I can’t get it out of my head — Emma Stonex, author of THE LAMPLIGHTERS One of the finest literary craftsmen currently working is writing horror. Looking Glass Sound is a masterclass in atmosphere. Nearly every sentence is faultless, gutting and precise. Come for the family secrets but stay for the humanity, tenderness, and empathy that are so central to Ward’s storytelling. This book will truly haunt you long after you read — Olivie Blake, author of THE ATLAS SIX Brilliantly atmospheric and creepy with unforgettable characters — Elodie Harper, author of THE WOLF DEN Devastatingly beautiful, bone-chilling and enchanting. Looking Glass Sound is further proof that no one writes like Catriona Ward. No one conjures such heartbreak from such raw fear. An alchemist of storytelling — Chris Whitaker, author of WE BEGIN AT THE END