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2025 CWA Historical Dagger (longlist)
'An evocative mystery . . . atmospheric and gripping' Good Housekeeping
'A brilliant claustrophobic study of gaslighting and manipulation, as a family's ambitions overwhelm their better impulses' Daily Mail
'Atmospheric and chilling, this is one to curl up with' Heat Magazine, Book of the Week
TO BECOME ONE OF THEM, SHE WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES...
1938. Gillian Larking is used to blending in and going unnoticed, until she is befriended by her new roommate at boarding school, the vibrant and spirited Violet Claybourne. As the Christmas holidays approach, Gilly can't believe her luck when Violet invites her to spend them at her home, the crumbling Thornleigh Hall.
At Thornleigh, Gilly is dazzled by the family's faded grandeur, and above all by Violet's beguiling older sisters who seem to accept her as one of their own. But following a terrible incident in the house's grounds, Gilly begins to realise the Claybourne sisters aren't quite what she thought they were. And if she's to survive in their world, she may have to become just like them . . .
*LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA DAGGER AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR*
*FROM THE AUTHOR OF INDIE BOOK OF THE MONTH ONE PUZZLING AFTERNOON*
Genre: Historical Mystery
'A brilliant claustrophobic study of gaslighting and manipulation, as a family's ambitions overwhelm their better impulses' Daily Mail
'Atmospheric and chilling, this is one to curl up with' Heat Magazine, Book of the Week
TO BECOME ONE OF THEM, SHE WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES...
1938. Gillian Larking is used to blending in and going unnoticed, until she is befriended by her new roommate at boarding school, the vibrant and spirited Violet Claybourne. As the Christmas holidays approach, Gilly can't believe her luck when Violet invites her to spend them at her home, the crumbling Thornleigh Hall.
At Thornleigh, Gilly is dazzled by the family's faded grandeur, and above all by Violet's beguiling older sisters who seem to accept her as one of their own. But following a terrible incident in the house's grounds, Gilly begins to realise the Claybourne sisters aren't quite what she thought they were. And if she's to survive in their world, she may have to become just like them . . .
*LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA DAGGER AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR*
*FROM THE AUTHOR OF INDIE BOOK OF THE MONTH ONE PUZZLING AFTERNOON*
Genre: Historical Mystery
Praise for this book
"With shades of Sarah Waters and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, this is a riveting story about sisters, secrets and the lengths people will go to fit in with others. I raced through it because I struggled to put it down!" - Caroline Bishop
"A fabulously unsettling tale, The Undoing of Violet Claybourne is a Gothic saga sweeping across themes of class, privilege, intergenerational trauma, and the post-war friction of high society facing a different world. Satisfying, harrowing, ending with a delicious sting in the tale, this is the perfect companion as the nights draw in." - Kate Collins
"Emily Critchley has written a gripping gothic mystery that evokes the elegance of Fitzgerald?s The Great Gatsby." - Sulari Gentill
"In a story reminiscent of Atonement, Emily Critchley's The Undoing of Violet Claybourne is as moving as it is gripping. It's a tale of agency, regret, and heart-deep betrayal. It absolutely wrecked me. I loved it!" - Chelsea Iversen
"Emily Critchley is a master of the unexpected. The gasp out loud moments, the twists and turns in The Undoing of Violet Claybourne captivated me to the very end." - Jill Johnson
"A moving tale of class, duplicity and the irreversible consequences of betraying a friendship. I devoured this wonderful book." - Jo Leevers
"The Undoing of Violet Claybourne is gothic fiction at its darkest and finest. 'Beware!' The reader wants to shout the warning to the girl of modest means who becomes enthralled with the wealthy and privileged sisters that will turn her world upside down, who take until there's nothing left, and who inhabit a world where both injustice and justice are brutal and swift. Fans of Shirley Jackson will find this novel mesmerizing." - Erika Robuck
"This sprawling atmospheric mystery follows Gillian Larking and the enigmatic Claybourne sisters at their prestigious estate where on the surface everything is prim and proper but underneath simmers long-standing secrets and the darkest of undertones-part gothic mystery, part psychological suspense, The Undoing of Violet Claybourne will settle deep into your bones and stay there long after the last page." - Ashley Tate
"A fabulously unsettling tale, The Undoing of Violet Claybourne is a Gothic saga sweeping across themes of class, privilege, intergenerational trauma, and the post-war friction of high society facing a different world. Satisfying, harrowing, ending with a delicious sting in the tale, this is the perfect companion as the nights draw in." - Kate Collins
"Emily Critchley has written a gripping gothic mystery that evokes the elegance of Fitzgerald?s The Great Gatsby." - Sulari Gentill
"In a story reminiscent of Atonement, Emily Critchley's The Undoing of Violet Claybourne is as moving as it is gripping. It's a tale of agency, regret, and heart-deep betrayal. It absolutely wrecked me. I loved it!" - Chelsea Iversen
"Emily Critchley is a master of the unexpected. The gasp out loud moments, the twists and turns in The Undoing of Violet Claybourne captivated me to the very end." - Jill Johnson
"A moving tale of class, duplicity and the irreversible consequences of betraying a friendship. I devoured this wonderful book." - Jo Leevers
"The Undoing of Violet Claybourne is gothic fiction at its darkest and finest. 'Beware!' The reader wants to shout the warning to the girl of modest means who becomes enthralled with the wealthy and privileged sisters that will turn her world upside down, who take until there's nothing left, and who inhabit a world where both injustice and justice are brutal and swift. Fans of Shirley Jackson will find this novel mesmerizing." - Erika Robuck
"This sprawling atmospheric mystery follows Gillian Larking and the enigmatic Claybourne sisters at their prestigious estate where on the surface everything is prim and proper but underneath simmers long-standing secrets and the darkest of undertones-part gothic mystery, part psychological suspense, The Undoing of Violet Claybourne will settle deep into your bones and stay there long after the last page." - Ashley Tate
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