The girl in the green dress - Cath Staincliffe

How far would you go to protect your child?

Can you really keep them safe? What if who they are puts them at risk?

And what if they have blood on their hands?

Teenager Allie Kennaway heads off for prom night, cheered on by her dad Steve and little sister Teagan. But Allie never comes home, beaten to death in an apparent hate crime because of her transgender identity. As police investigate the brutal murder, a crime that has appalled the country, one parent is at her wit's end with her son's behaviour. Are his outbursts and silences hiding something much darker than adolescent mood swings? And if her suspicions are correct, then what does she do? Another parent will fight
tooth and nail to save his boy from the full force of the law. After all, blood is thicker than water and everyone should look after their own.
But if he succeeds then Allie and her family will never get the justice they deserve.

A groundbreaking story of love and hate, loyalty and betrayal, in a world of change.

Cath Staincliffe is an award winning novelist, radio playwright and creator of ITV's hit series Blue Murder. Cath's books have been shortlisted for the CWA Best First Novel award. She was joint winner of the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2012. Letters To My Daughter's Killer was selected for the Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club on ITV3 in 2014. Cath also writes the Scott & Bailey books based on the popular ITV series. She lives with her family in Manchester.

Powerful, complex and utterly gripping
Sunday Mirror

An intelligent and emotionally engaging moral workout
Daily Telegraph

An intelligent and emotionally engaging moral workout
Daily Telegraph

Cath Staincliffe gets into the heads of ordinary people and makes them extraordinary
Ann Cleeves

It's always exciting to see a writer get better and better and Cath Staincliffe is doing just that
Val McDermid

Cath Staincliffe gets into the heads of ordinary people and makes them extraordinary. Her power is in the small detail that builds tension and forces us to care about the characters she's created. The Silence Between Breaths will haunt you. You will find yourself thinking: what would I have done in that situation?
Ann Cleeves

Complex and satisfying
Sunday Times

It's always exciting to see a writer get better and better and Cath Staincliffe is doing just that
Val McDermid

For her insistence on looking real life squarely in the face I would call Staincliffe the
most grown-up writer in British crime fiction ... her novel is mercilessly exciting too
The Telegraph on The Silence Between Breaths

A sensitive and humane writer whose talent for characterisation ... is the fuel for real suspense
The Guardian

Complex and satisfying
Sunday Times

A powerful, complex, gripping, perfectly paced book that packs a punch
The People

Emotionally unsparing, this expertly written police procedural is also an outstanding thriller, hard to put aside even for the sake of sleep.
Morning Star

This is a wonderful novel, powerful, humane and moving. It's also one of the best police procedurals I've read this year
Ann Cleeves

Her finest novel yet, emotionally unsparing, powerful, humane and moving . . . This is a timely, brave and brilliant book
Crime Review