Maria Frankland

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.

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

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?

The moment she sees Caitlyn, wearing her ‘bride-to-be’ sash and brimming with excitement, it hits her. She hates Caitlyn. She knows who she is – what she’s really hiding. And the temptation to do something about it is too strong to resist…

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…

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.

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.

The important thing is that my daughter and son are safe after the fire that ripped apart their world as they knew it. And we’re trying to move forward together. Except there’s something I can’t let go of.

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?

All I want is get back to normal. Whatever ‘normal’ is these days. After all, our family will be scarred forever after everything that’s happened. My sister-in-law falling prey to the serial killer that stalked our usual peaceful town is something I’ll never get over.

Sunny afternoons are the worst for a recovering alcoholic. But I’m doing OK and I’m proud of myself. I stretch out on my sun lounger with my book, basking in the peace before I have to collect my son from school.

Seven drownings. Three months. Who is to blame? Lauren is fed up with covering local small-town news in Northern England. The bride-to-be and mother-of-one dreams of recognition and accolades as a national journalist....

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.

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.

You died three weeks ago, so how can you be following me on social media? Your funeral is packed to the rafters leaving standing room only. Everyone talks about your untimely death and the hole you’ve left behind.

Becoming Tom’s mum had always robbed me of the chance to sleep, and here I was, fifteen years on, alone in the dead of night, longing to be able to rest like everyone else. When I saw the thin blue line on my pregnancy test, I dared to hope for a future of blissful motherhood.

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’ve never felt welcome in my husband Dominic’s family home. His parents make it clear I’m a poor comparison to his perfect first wife, Carla. But we’re here for Christmas, so it’s important to pretend everything is fine. Until Dominic’s mother bustles into our bedroom.

They don’t need to name the dangerous prisoner who’s escaped whilst in transit between prisons. The chill that snakes up my spine tells me exactly who it is. And I know the first place he’ll be heading.

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 monotony.