"A stunning, genre-defying novel, poetic, immersive, and as dazzling as the Mediterranean sun even as it pulls the reader through the darkest corridors of human behavior. I was totally mesmerized. . . . Alex Marwood is in a class of her own."--Lisa Jewell

"A stiletto of a novel: heart stopping and devastating."--Jenny Colgan

"Sun-drenched glamour and obscene wealth hide evil secrets in this ripped-from-the-headlines thriller about money, corruption, power and lost innocence from "one of crime fiction's brightest stars" (Megan Abbott), the Edgar and Macavity Award-winning author of The Wicked Girls and The Killer Next Door.

Library Hardcover Edition

It's paradise for the super-rich, but hell for the girls whose lives they've stolen

1985

To twelve-year-old Mercedes, La Kastellana is home, an island with deep-rooted traditions untouched by the modern world. But this secluded paradise is upended with the arrival of multimillionaire Matthew Meade and his pampered young daughter, Tatiana. While the Meades lavishly spread unimaginable wealth around La Kastellana, the price Mercedes and the rest of the islanders will pay is more than they could ever have imagined.

2016

Robin has been desperately searching for her seventeen-year-old daughter Gemma, who's been missing for more than a year. Finding herself on La Kastellana, an island playground for the international jet set, Robin quickly realizes she's out of her depth. No one is willing to help and Robin fears she's running out of time to find her child.

But someone has been watching, silently waiting for the moment to expose the dark truth of what really happens on the island of lost girls.

Marwood, Alex

Alex Marwood is the pseudonym of a former journalist who has worked extensively in the British press. She is the author of the word-of-mouth sensation The Wicked Girls, which won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original; The Killer Next Door, which won a Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel; The Darkest Secret; and The Poison Garden. Her novels have been short-listed for numerous crime writing awards and been optioned for the screen. She lives in south London.