Book description
A strong contemporary novel; a debut from an author with a brilliant,
highly original voice. Shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger award.
It was hot everywhere that year. During the long summer holidays the
days rolled by in blue and gold, the sun bouncing off the dustbins and
burning into windscreens.
By the end of that summer, three of us were dead.
Anita's mother has just died. The family has moved to a new town, a new
home, and a new neighbourhood. The long school holidays are about to
start and the summer stretches out interminably in front of them.
Kyle lives across the road from Anita. Cool, surly, laconic, he knows
all the places to hide. He says the area between the houses and the
river is littered with hidden, disused mines; a perfect playground for
restless kids with nothing better to do.
But what they don't know is that these mines will form the scene of the
most unsettling crime this community has ever known. This summer
everything will change. This summer, the dead days have come home to stay.
Editor, Clare Hey, says:
When the first manuscript of 'The Dead of Summer' came in I started
reading and was hooked immediately by the pace of the story and the
voice of the narrator. I have never come across a book which was so
difficult to put down, a story that kept me turning the pages. We shared
'The Dead of Summer' with people across HarperCollins and soon everyone
was talking about it. If you liked Lionel Shriver's 'We Need to Talk
About Kevin', Iain Banks' 'The Wasp Factory', or even Jodi Picoult's
'Perfect Match', you will love 'The Dead of Summer'. But, make sure you
have nothing else planned because once you start this book, you won't be
able to stop until you reach the end. 'A modern day classic in the
making' Dazed & Confused
'A beautifully written descent into darkness' Glamour
'So addictive you'll devour it in one greedy gulp' Cosmopolitan
'Creepy, clever, compelling…a cross between The Cement Garden and The
Long Good Friday…absolutely superb' Arena magazine
'Prepare to be gripped by this brilliantly haunting novel' Grazia
'An amazing debut' New Woman
'This compelling psychological thriller is a real hair-raising read
thanks to the gritty realistic writing' She magazine
'It's hard to say what's more impressive: Way's plot, Anita's utterly
convincing voice or the evocation of the strange, eerie atmosphere.
Whatever, it all adds up to something truly exciting - Way has just 'Got
It'. The London Paper Camilla Way was born in Greenwich, south-east
London in 1973. Her father was the poet and author Peter Way. After
attending Woolwich College she studied Modern English and French
Literature at the University of Glamorgan. Formerly an editor on the
men's style magazine Arena, Camilla Way is now a freelance writer.
Having lived in Cardiff, Bristol, Bath and Clerkenwell, she now lives in
south-east London.
