Sarah Hilary: The Drowning Place - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival 2026

Description

EVERY PLACE HAS ITS GHOSTS.

Edenscar, a town in the Peak District, has more than most. 17 years ago its inhabitants were hit by tragedy when a school bus veered off the road and everyone on board drowned. Everyone, that is, except Joseph Ashe. His miraculous survival has haunted him and the town ever since.

Now a Detective Sergeant in the local police, Joe is called to the scene of a brutal and apparently inexplicable crime. The whole town is spooked, but Joe’s new boss, DI Laurie Bower, more used to inner-city police work, has no time for superstition. She just wants to find the very real killer who has left no trace and apparently had no motive.

Joining forces, Joe and Laurie work to uncover the secrets of Edenscar, both past and present.

But when you dig up the dead, expect to get your hands dirty…

The first in a stand-out and haunting new crime series for fans of Vera, Broadchurch and Happy Valley. Set in a town steeped in history and horror, the series follows DS Joseph Ashe, a young man haunted by the ghosts of his past and struggling with survivor’s guilt, and DI Laurie Bower, an outsider fighting to fit in.

Sarah will be in conversation with Zena Hawley, Agenda Editor for Derby Telegraph.

You can also buy the Takeover Day Pass to see this and six other events for £40. 

'The Drowning Place marks the start of a wonderfully constructed police procedural series, where the crime at the heart of the novel is only part of the very moving story' SINÉAD CROWLEY