Kind of Cruel

When Amber Hewerdine consults a hypnotherapist as a desperate last resort, she doesn't expect that anything much will change.

She doesn't expect it to help with her chronic insomnia . . .

She doesn't expect to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: 'Kind, cruel, kind of cruel' - words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where . . .

She doesn't expect to be arrested two hours later, as a result of having spoken those words out loud, in connection with the brutal murder of Katharine Allen, a woman she's never heard of . . .

“This taut, intelligent psychological thriller . . . opens up a lot for reading groups to get their teeth into . . . intensely satisfying personal read.”

[Hannah] has outdone herself with KIND OF CRUEL . . . Her trademark precision-layered structure creates a multi-dimensional maze that holds at its centre a revelation which is truly hair-raising, even by Hannah's standards. - Independent on Sunday

An exploration of memory and the way trauma lives on in the present. Cool, calculating and utterly chilling, KIND OF CRUEL is another compulsive book from Hannah, to be gulped down with all the lights on and someone to grab when the sense of menace grows too great. - Observer

Like Hannah's previous multilayered thrillers, her seventh offers the unravelling of several mysteries, a rich mix of the dark and diverting, and astute portraits of women falling apart. - The Sunday Times

An audacious puzzle of a novel that is impossible to second guess . . . Crime novels are often dismissed in literary circles for not being literary enough. Yet KIND OF CRUEL is exactly the intelligent, reflective and stunningly written novel that has "literary" critics swooning and judging panels lining up to reward. The fact that it has a police investigation at its heart is a plus, not a minus, and makes for one hell of a journey. - Sunday Express

KIND OF CRUEL is another compulsive book from Hannah - Sunday Independent Ireland

Hannah excels at dissecting human behaviour, and the way she describes little acts of cruelty can send real chills down the spine. - Psychologies

'Hannah's classy psychological thrillers are known for their amazing openings and this one is a doozy . . . The plot developments are often jaw-dropping and the ending is wonderfully satisfying. Another triumph for one of the very best crime writers out there.' ***** - Heat

If you have ever finished a crime novel having already correctly worked out whodunit and why and are feeling slightly disappointed and cheated as a result, allow me to introduce you to Sophie Hannah . . . if you reach the end of her latest, baroquely plotted novel KIND OF CRUEL one step ahead of her, I wouldn't just be surprised but downright suspicious and sceptical too. - Scotsman

Sophie Hannah is a bestselling crime fiction writer and poet. Her psychological thrillers LITTLE FACE, HURTING DISTANCE, THE POINT OF RESCUE, THE OTHER HALF LIVES, A ROOM SWEPT WHITE and LASTING DAMAGE have received critical acclaim and have been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in Cambridge with her husband and two children.

Visit Sophie's website, , and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/sophiehannahCB1.

Amber Hewerdine knows more that she is telling. She knows that she hasn't slept since the arson attack which killed her best friend. She knows that it is not normal for four members of your family to disappear one Christmas morning, and then reappear the next day, refusing to explain or ever speak of it again. And she knows that somewhere, buried deep in her subconscious, is the key to what happened all those years ago at Little Orchard. Kind, cruel, kind of cruel. These are the words she keeps coming back to. But what do they mean? And why is she arrested within hours of first saying them, for the murder of a woman she has never met? 'Hannah concocts a mystery of satisfying complexity in which frequent clichs of the genre are turned inside out ... Unfortunately for her rivals, Hannah does texture, depth and character with similar panache.' SCOTSMAN 'Stunningly clever and compelling' HEAT

When Amber Hewerdine consults a hypnotherapist as a desperate last resort, she doesn't expect that anything much will change.She doesn't expect it to help with her chronic insomnia . . .She doesn't expect to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: 'Kind, cruel, kind of cruel' - words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where . . .She doesn't expect to be arrested two hours later, as a result of having spoken those words out loud, in connection with the brutal murder of Katharine Allen, a woman she's never heard of . . .

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