Crow Stone

Description

A compulsively readable thriller that skillfully weaves together past and present to uncover the sinister secrets buried in the ancient stone quarries under Bath. Kit Parry is reluctant to take the job shoring up the ancient quarries beneath her hometown of Bath - a place as riddled with memories she'd rather forget as it is with Roman ruins. The miners certainly don't want her there, and her burgeoning romance with lanky foreman Gary looks likely to complicate matters even further. But when dark developments threaten the spa town's placid facade, Kit must face up to the past she's tried so desperately to bury. Someone wants her out of Bath - that much is clear - but who was it that brought her childhood to an abrupt end in the summer of her fourteenth year? Why has she never been back to Bath, and how did she escape her violent father? When Kit stumbles across evidence of a lost Mithraic temple, the mysteries in her own past become entangled with a search for what could be the archaeological discovery of the decade - and what turns into a dangerous obsession...

Jenni Mills was born in Birmingham. She has never been much good at getting up in the morning, so she has had to have lots of different jobs in the hope that nobody would notice this. Mostly, apart from a short spell as a waitress, she has worked in broadcasting. She has presented and produced many programmes for BBC Radio 4, including You and Yours, Woman's Hour, Never the Same Again, and Famous for Fifteen Minutes, and directed TV documentaries for both the BBC and ITV, as well as teaching voice techniques to broadcasters. She gained a distinction in her MA in Creating Writing at Bath Spa University, where she now tutors. She is the author of a handbook for radio/TV reporters and presenters, The Broadcast Voice, and her stage play, Claire's Story, was produced at the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester. She has written for a number of magazines and newspapers, including the Independent, Radio Times and Bella. The critically acclaimed Crow Stone was her first novel. 'The Buried Circle' is her second novel. She lives in the West Country.

'An amazingly accomplished first novel -- intricately plotted and with a terrific, engaging protagonist. Anyone who has so much as a hint of claustrophobia or fear of pot holes should read it only in daylight with the windows open.' Jenni Murray, author and broadcaster 'Ingenious, well-plotted and!really holds the attention. It's a damn good read.' Susan Hill '[A] taut archaeological thriller!Mills gradually leaches out Kit's unstable history which, combined with the fissured roof, conflicting loyalties and predatory men, keeps the adrenaline flowing high.' Financial Times 'The geological and archaeological background lends colour without overwhelming an elaborate, convincing plot, and the characters are really believable. This is a remarkably accomplished and well-written first novel.' Literary Review 'A compelling thriller!When Kit finds evidence of what could be an amazing archaeological discovery, the secrets of her past become caught up with the race to uncover the mystery hidden in the mines -- which results in a chilling climax!Ingenious.' Editor's Choice, Closer magazine 'Nail-biting suspense.' Woman & Home 'Jenni Mills weaves together the threads of past and present mysteries masterfully in this superb, complex story. Be sure to switch off the phone and bolt the door because this is a genuine page-turner which will keep you gripped to the end.' Waterstones Books Quarterly 'Set in Bath, the plot weaves mystery, archaeology, suspense, romance, and the intricacies of family life into a brilliantly readable thriller.' Woman's Weekly 'Undoubtedly!a thriller, but equally a love story, a tragedy and a story of family!a gripping page-turner.' Nottingham Evening Post 'Part suspense thriller, part coming-of-age tale, part Time Team scenario and part love story, "Crow Stone" screams "bestseller" from each of its 400 pages.' Publishing News