Hold back the tide - Melinda Salisbury

From internationally bestselling, acclaimed author Melinda
Salisbury comes a darkly seductive story of murder, betrayal,
love, and family secrets in a small town in the Scottish Highlands.

Here are the rules of living with a murderer.

One: Do not draw attention to yourself. Of course, when you
live with a murderer, this is impossible. Even the subtlest of
spectres is bound to be noticed.

Which leads to the next rule.

Two: If you can't be invisible, be useful.

Everyone in this quiet lakeside community knows that Alva's father
killed her mother, all those years ago. There wasn't enough
proof to arrest him, though, and with no other family, Alva's been
forced to live with her mother's murderer, doing her best to survive
until she can earn enough money to run away.

One of her chores is to monitor water levels in the loch-a task
her father takes very seriously. Their family has been the guardian
of the loch for generations. It's a cold, lonely task, and a
few times, Alva can swear she feels someone watching her.

But the more Alva investigates, the more she realizes that the
truth can be more monstrous than lies, and that you can never escape
your past . . .

• Gripping literary horror/thriller with a topical ecological edge


• Unsettling, sharply beautiful and thought-provoking


• Melinda Salisbury's The Sin Eater's Daughter was the
  bestselling YA debut of 2015 and was shortlisted for the Waterstones
  Prize and the Branford Boase Award