The Death of Her - Guest Post Debbie Howells

It's exciting when a debut author comes onto my blog but it is equally exciting to have an author visit whose previous two novels have been highly praised and who has earned a seat on the coveted Richard and Judy sofa! This is Debbie's second visit to Wendy' Writing Now and she is here today to tell us a little about her third psychological thriller, The Death of Her.

Over to you, Debbie.

  

The Death of Her is my third book.  It’s set in North Cornwall, along a stretch of coast I know well and takes in the sweeping countryside and some of the more secluded, wilder coves.  And of course, the waves…

Nothing is by chance.  A wave is the culmination of many factors.  There’s the swell, the wind, the shape of the coastline, the ocean floor.  It shows the divine timing to all things, because you can’t hurry the perfect wave. He’s taught me the need for patience as you see a set coming, the importance of relying on your judgement. The perfect wave will come when the time is right.

I stand there watching him as he deftly rides a wave to the shore then, instead of paddling out against the tide, catches the rip.  Its powerful flow is an easy ride out past the waves, when you understand the forces at work, as Rick does.  When you don’t, it’s an easy way to die.

One of the themes is the reliability of memory.  We’ve all heard someone recount a sequence of events that we remember quite differently and while I was researching this, it fascinated me to learn how easily memory can be suggested or false memories implanted.  There are a number of studies I read about, in which the subjects were convinced they’d been involved in an event in their childhood which hadn’t happened, even to the point of embellishing their memory of it.  It makes you think…

Back to my book… A young woman is found battered and left for dead in the Cornish countryside.  When she’s airlifted to hospital, she remembers two things – her name, Evie, and the name of her three year old daughter.  But as the police investigation gets under way, there is no evidence her daughter exists.    

As more of Evie’s memory comes back, she appears convincing, but it soon becomes apparent that her memories are at best fragmented.  Not only that, but vital pieces are missing.  With no-one to back up what she’s saying, it’s impossible to believe her.

But from the darkest place she’s ever known, Evie knows her daughter’s voice, her chameleon eyes, every precious hair on her head.  But the police remain unconvinced – unaware that on the fringes of Evie’s life, there’s someone else.  Someone hiding, watching her every move, with their own agenda and their own twisted version of reality.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to read this new book of Debbie's which is already receiving 5 star reviews on Amazon.

You can find out more about Debbie here

You can buy The Death of Her here