Dark Waters: The addictive psychological thriller you won’t be able to put down
A darkly compelling psychological thriller, full of twists and turns, perfect for fans of Louise Jensen, Cass Green and Alex Lake.Secrets lie beneath the surface…Two men, seemingly unconnected, are discovered dead in a holiday boat on the Norfolk Broads, having apparently committed suicide together.Local journalist Alex Devlin, planning an article on the dangers of internet suicide forums, starts digging into their backgrounds.But Alex’s investigation soon leads her to a much darker mystery – one that will hit closer to home than she could possibly have imagined, and place the lives of those she loves in terrible danger.
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Copyright © Mary-Jane Riley 2018
Cover design by Micaela Alcaino © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com
Mary-Jane Riley asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it
are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Ebook Edition © March 2018 ISBN: 9780008285104
Version: 2018-02-19
For The Tillster
Table of Contents
The Norfolk Broads â a haven of peace and tranquility simply waiting to be discovered and explored. And a boating holiday on the Broads opens up a world of beauty, cruising through reed marshes, woodland and meadow. Find hidden waterways teeming with wildlife. Moor close to welcoming riverside pubs, quaint villages, and market towns. Choose a Harperâs Holidays cruiser and start unwinding today!
Decomposition sets in.
First, both hearts stop beating and the cells and tissues are starved of oxygen. The brain cells are the first to die â all that âbeingâ ended.
Blood drains from the capillaries, pooling in lower-lying parts of the body, staining the skin black. Rigor mortis has been and gone by now, the muscles becoming stiff three hours after death, but within seventy-two hours rigor mortis has subsided. The bodies are cool. They are pliable again.
As the cells die, bacteria begins to break them down. Enzymes in the pancreas cause each organ in each of the bodies to digest itself. Large blisters appear all over the bodies. Green slime oozes from decomposing tissue, and methane and hydrogen sulphide fill the air. Bloody froth trickles from the mouths and noses.
And all this time the insects are enjoying themselves. One fly can lay three hundred eggs on one corpse, and they will hatch within twenty-four hours. The hatching maggots use hooks in their mouths to scoop up any liquid seeping from the bodies. They are efficient, these maggots. Their breathing mechanism is located on the opposite end to their mouths so they can breathe and eat at the same time.
Within a day the maggots reach the second stage of their lives and burrow into the putrefying flesh.
The pleasure cruiser has been tied to the wooden mooring post on Poppy Island for at least three days. There has been no movement. The curtains are drawn. The doors and windows are closed. Somebody will find them soon.
Gary Lodge and his wife, Ronnie, both noticed the boat as they motored past the island on the second day of their holiday. It looked brand new, its white paintwork gleaming in the sunshine. Although it was the middle of the day, the curtains were closed. They didnât remark on it to each other, though â Gary thought the people on board had probably been on the razz the night before (though when he thought about it later he realized there was no pub on the island and no way off it except by boat). Ronnie thought it was a case of daytime nookie; though, if it had been her, she would have left the curtains open.
Three days later, the Lodges, after lazy days of boating, drinking and sweaty sex, travelled back down the Broads.
âIsnât that the same boat?â said Gary.
âAs what?â Ronnie was enjoying the cool breeze on her face.
âYou know. As when we came by the other day. It had its curtains closed then. Still does.â
Ronnie smiled, put her arms around Gary and nuzzled into the crook of his neck. âProbably, babes. I donât know. Weâve had a good time though, havenât we?â She didnât want to think about other people, she wanted to keep hold of this loving feeling she had towards Gary â all too rare during their mundane everyday life that seemed to be filled with work and just getting by.
