Ferryman

Ferryman by Carole Sutton

A young woman's body surfaces in the Fal Estuary. Angela had been missing for two years, but evidence showed she died only one week ago. Two years earlier Steven Pengelly was jailed for her murder.

The detective, who slanted the evidence to ensure a conviction, has a growing list of missing women. Veryan Pascoe's sister is one of them. On Pengelly's release from jail, Veryan persuades him that Angela's murder and her sister's disappearance are connected.

DI Alec Grimstone battles his conscience, and gathers his team to investigate the case anew as the body count grows. Pengelly and Veryan work together to follow leads from the sailing fraternity in their efforts to find Veryan's sister before she too, meets with Angela's fate.

It's about one man's quest for justice, a woman's betrayal, a detective's conscience, and a powerful and deviant businessman, whose escalating quest for bigger thrills takes him to the edge of madness in this fast moving, un-put-down-able Cornish tale.

What did the first reader/reviewers from YouWriteOn writing workshop make of it? Here is a sample of their comments:

... well written thriller...
... feel the boat under you and smell the salt ...
... characters, settings and dialogue all had an air of authenticity ...
... kept me turning the pages right the way through ...
...tense, with good description and characters that come alive...
... couldn't put it down ...
This is really great - totally readable. Ferryman starts out strong, with a gripping prologue. Subsequent chapters don't disappoint.

Ferryman made the top five, the best-seller list, in the YouWriteOn program and went on to be short-listed in the Dundee International Book Prize of 2007 in the UK.