Our Dark Secret

From the author of The Missing Girl, Jenny Quintana’s gripping novel, Our Dark Secret, tells the story of two girls, two deaths and two decades of silence . . . The crazy girls, they called them – or at least, Elizabeth liked to think they did. As a teenager in the late 1970s, she was clever, overweight and a perfect victim for the bullies. Then Rachel and her family arrived in town and, for Elizabeth, it was as if a light had been switched on. She was drawn to the bright and beautiful Rachel like a moth to a flame.Rachel had her own reasons for wanting Elizabeth as a friend, and although their relationship was far from equal, Elizabeth would do anything for Rachel.Then the first body was discovered.Twenty years on, Elizabeth wants nothing more than to keep the secrets of her teenage years where they belong: in the past. But another body has been found, and she can’t keep running from what happened.Can she?

Emotional and gripping: Our Dark Secret confirms Jenny Quintana as the mistress of the heartbreaking thriller, Darkly compelling, tender characterisation — I read this in a few greedy gulps, Bittersweet, full of growing menace, yet poignant and full of longing . . . Fans of The Missing Girl will fall in love with this!, Jenny Quintana is a rare talent . . . Superb plotting, razor-sharp characterisation, and a creeping sense of dread makes Our Dark Secret a novel that you won’t be able to put down, A compulsive page-turner; a beautifully written coming-of-age story; a murder mystery peopled with characters who live and breathe . . . and a brilliant read

Jenny Quintana grew up in Essex and Berkshire before studying English Literature in London. She has taught in London, Seville and Athens and has also written books for teaching English as a foreign language. Her first novel, The Missing Girl, was chosen as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. She now lives with her family in Berkshire. Our Dark Secret is her second novel.