A Quiet Notice: 1

Some deaths need a notice. Some need the truth. Sloane Beckett is ready to close Marsh & Beckett Obituaries for good. The boxes are packed, the lease is ending, and Greystone has already decided what it thinks. Then Hugh Carmichael dies. Hugh was the town's gentle bookseller: quiet, careful, and loved by almost everyone. But when Sloane begins writing his obituary, she finds a sealed file left by her grandmother, a file that should only be opened after Hugh's death. Inside is a photograph of Carla Kemp, a nineteen-year-old girl who vanished near the river mouth in 1987. Greystone says Carla ran away. Carla's family says she never would have left like that. And Sloane's grandmother had one question: what did Hugh see? With the help of a stubborn office assistant, an elderly cat, and a town full of people who remember more than they admit, Sloane must decide what can be printed, what can be proved, and what the dead are owed. A quiet, atmospheric mystery about memory, grief, and the stories small towns tell to protect themselves. Perfect for fans of Elly Griffiths, Ann Cleeves, and Kate Atkinson.