Black Flowers by Steve Mosby

This is not the story of a girl who disappears.

This is the story of a little girl who comes back.

As if from nowhere, she appears one day on a seaside promenade, with a black flower and a horrifying story about where she's been. But telling that story will start a chain reaction of dangerous lies and deadly illusions that will claim many more victims in the years to come.

Twenty years later, in the 1990's, a man named Robert Wiseman writes a novel called The Black Flower based on the story of the unidentified little girl.

In the present day, Neil Dawson is devastated by the suicide of his father. But through his grief, Neil knows something isn't right. When he finds a copy of The Black Flower among his father's possessions, he begins an investigation that will take him into a world of danger and subterfuge.

Hannah Price is also mourning her father. She followed his footsteps into the police force and knows she has a big reputation to live up to. When she gets assigned to Neil's father's case, it will lead her on a journey into her own past and to the heart of a shattering secret.

Three different time periods, multiple narratives and individual stories and excerpts from The Black Flower, all cleverly crafted into a compelling, dark and twisted tale. A book that had my full attention from the first paragraph which is just as well because as the boundaries between fact and fiction blur one is never quite sure what is real or how all these separate puzzle pieces will fit together.

One of the best crime suspense novels I've read in a long time and I'm delighted to find that Steve Mosby has written four previous books which I can look forward to reading.

Loved it!