Maria Frankland

I stand at the front door and meticulously check my reflection in the glass. I must look perfect to meet Lou's new boyfriend. I haven't been invited but best friends don't require invitations, right?

My husband might be dead, but I haven’t lost him completely. His identical twin brother, Charlie, looks exactly like him.Grief has a way of binding people together, and Charlie and I understand each other in ways no one else can. If his jealous, insecure wife can’t see that, she’s the one...

It was supposed to be a family Christmas to remember. But I never thought it would end with one of us dead.

I tread quietly up the plush carpeted stairs. There’s no-one here to see me as Cassie and Jon’s bedroom door creaks gently open. I’ve watched them from afar for so long. Now I’m finally in their house. But there’s no time to waste. I’m here for a reason, and I’m going to get what I...

My wife is dead. No one believes that I’m innocent — and honestly, if I were them, I wouldn’t either. Everything you ever read, anything that makes the news? It’s always the husband. Beautiful, bright-eyed Michelle Jackson, a loving wife and mother, has been killed. Her husband Paul is...

I don’t know who I am. I don’t know who to trust. But someone out there knows what really happened to me. The faces staring back at me feel wrong, their voices uncomfortably distant. Ever since I woke from the coma, it’s like I’ve been locked in a stranger’s life. My memories are...

Being stuck in this house with the husband I’m separating from is unbearable. Dexter barely looks at me. When he does, it’s like I’m not even here. It’s as if he’s already erased me from his life.

As the car pulls up to my husband Dominic’s family home the night before Christmas, I suppress a shudder. I’ve never felt welcome here. His parents make it clear I’m a poor comparison to his perfect first wife, Carla. But I’m determined to lean into the festive cheer.

From where I stand in the shadows outside the pub I own, I can already tell what mood my husband’s in and it makes me want to stay exactly where I am. However, I can also see my bar manager, Jay. Sexy, young and exciting, he’s the person who’s going to set me free from my middle-aged...

This collection contains Book 1 - Undercurrents, Book 2 – Drowned Voices, and Book 3 – Emergence.

It was supposed to be a holiday to fix the cracks in our fractured family. I knew the seven days would be endless, but I never imagined that one of us would only survive for six of them… As I carry my case into the charming and rustic cottage and smile at my sister-in-law, Kelli, I allow...

I stand at the front door and meticulously check my reflection in the glass. I must look perfect to meet Lou’s new boyfriend. I haven’t been invited but best friends don't require invitations, right? Scott's arrival coincides with Donna's, leaving me with no choice but to welcome her in...

As I stand outside the registry office with my husband-to-be, Hugh, I can tell something isn’t right. He won’t speak to me, he won’t even look at me and it’s almost making me have second thoughts. Almost.

I keep getting the sense of being watched. But when I glance up, it’s not by the person I want it to be. Dale’s always busy doing something else. Really, I must have the most unromantic partner on the planet. Or so I thought.

I’m dreading turning fifty more than I’ve dreaded any other birthday in my life. Now that my kids are at university, the prospect of spending the rest of my life with my bullying, balding, and boring husband is a miserable one. Which is why I employed Jay.

Every time I turn the corner towards home, I yearn for Ed to have returned. But he’s not coming back. The man I thought was my forever has been living a lie with me since the moment we met. I’m sick of hearing his voicemail message. I’m even more sick of the unanswered texts. He’s left...

As I reach Whispering Pines, a haven promising four days of Winter Solstice calm, the snow has just begun to fall. But I’m not here to hold yoga poses and breathe. I’m here to work. As a drowning single mother, my children’s Christmas depends on the money I’ve been promised. As the...

As I race towards the lake, Toby's life unfolds before me, from the day he entered this world to his first day at school. Please let me find him. I’ll do anything. But my sweet little boy is nowhere to be seen. It kills me that the only way I can spend proper time with my son Toby is by...

Today’s the day. The things I’ve packed are hidden away and I’m waiting for the go-ahead to collect the keys to the new house.

In the midst of a sea of holidaymakers, I find myself the lone outsider – no companion, no luggage. An enigma among the carefree crowd. I wonder what they’d do if they knew who I am. Who I really am…