The Bad Place: An addictive and poignant thriller that's packed with twists and turns

By M.K. Hill

Six children were taken. Only five came home...

The newspapers called it The Bad Place. A remote farm out on the Thames estuary, where six children were held captive for two weeks. Five of them got out alive.

That was twenty years ago. Now adults, they meet up annually to hold a vigil for their friend who died. The only rule is that no-one can talk about what happened the night they escaped. But at this year's event, one of them witnesses a kidnapping. A young girl, Sammi, is bundled into a van in front of their eyes.

DI Sasha Dawson, of Essex Police, is certain that the key to finding Sammi lies in finding out the truth about The Bad Place. But she also knows that with every second she spends trying to unlock the past, the clock ticks down for the missing girl...

Is history repeating itself? Is one of the five responsible? Or is someone sending them a twisted message?

A Times Crime Book of the Month

Praise for The Bad Place:

'Everything a police procedural should be: sharp, funny, moving and tremendously exciting' The Times

'Absorbing and twisty' Mark Edwards

'Dark, gripping and fast paced, The Bad Place grabs a hold and won't let you go... Addictive summer reading' Katerina Diamond

'Superb, smart, seat-edge stuff. DI Sasha Dawson is a brilliant creation' William Shaw

'Utterly compelling and brilliantly realistic, The Bad Place is Mark's best book yet. One that will appeal to crime fans everywhere' Lisa Hall

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Sep 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781788548298

M.K. Hill

M.K. Hill worked as a journalist and an award-winning music radio producer before becoming a full-time writer. He's written the Sasha Dawson series, Ray Drake series and the highly-acclaimed psychological thriller One Bad Thing. He lives in London. Visit him at www.mkhill.uk or find him on Twitter @markhillwriter.

Reviews for The Bad Place

[atticusfinch1048 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Bad Place – A great way to start a new seriesThere is some fantastic crime writing about today and M.K. Hill is adding to the cannon with this fantastic thriller while introducing a new detective to the crime thriller world. What makes this so good is that Hill’s writing is so good, that it makes it a pure pleasure to read, and before you know it you are halfway through the book.Twenty years ago, six children were taken but only five came back, but it takes the abduction of three children today to find out the truth from back then. The place where the original six where held hostage became known as The Bad Place, and annually the surviving victims meet to have a vigil and a meal together.When a young girl is kidnapped in front of one of the victims, DI Sasha Dawson of Essex Police are put in charge of the case. Ironic in that twenty years Dawson who had been a week into her career as a Police Officer when the original case broke and had been at The Bad Place. Dawson is sure that the key to finding Sammi the kidnapped girl is finding out the truth about the night, the kids had escaped and one of their number had been killed.While trying to run a major case, Dawson’s own family is in melt down, her husband seems to be depressed and not speaking to her or their children. Her mother decides to leave her father and move in with them. To top it all her mother is accused of bullying and her husband punches the next door neighbour, which is streamed online.As the case twenty years earlier starts to clash with her current case and another child goes missing, Dawson knows she has to solve this once and for all. Recognising that it is a race against time her and the team around her leave no stone unturned and no question unanswered.This really is a fantastic book, with a great new hero, who shows that she is human. It will be great to see how Sasha Dawson will develop in the future, and the cases come before her in Essex.