Bike in Rain

FALLING

A friend was riding his bike home one winter evening when the body of a teenage girl fell on the pavement next to him. He was sure her hands had been bound and that she was gagged. He stepped back as crowd gathered; he couldn't risk getting involved with the police. The next day the paper said it was a suicide and my friend felt an uneasy relief, not having witnessed a murder. But he said he couldn't stop remembering the sound of the impact. I asked him if I could make it into a novel.

Teaser for FALLING

Falling Cover

The body of a teenage girl, bound and gagged, falls from a high-rise block, hitting the concrete in front of Nina as she cycles home.

The next day the newspaper says it was a suicide and Nina doubts her memory. She goes back to talk to the neighbours and kids from the north London estate where the girl lived. There's a man following her.

Nina is 53, unemployed, mother of two grown boys, and long term partner of a respected poet. She doesn't seem the kind of person that should be investigating a murder, but Nina hasn't been entirely honest about the kind of person she is.