The Short Straw

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What to expect

Leaving isn't safe... But staying would be deadly.



'An addictive read. . . Patricia Highsmith meets Shirley Jackson' - GILLIAN MCALLISTER

'A deliciously creepy tale of three sisters forced to take refuge in an abandoned mansion. Seddon deftly weaves between past horrors at the manor and the present-day struggle of the sisters to survive the night. What sets this thriller apart is the stellar writing and bone-chilling atmosphere Seddon creates.' - SARAH PEKKANEN, bestselling author of Gone Tonight

Three sisters find themselves lost in a storm at night, and seek safety at Moirthwaite Manor, where their mother once worked. They are shocked to find the isolated mansion that loomed so large through their troubled childhoods has long been abandoned. Drawing straws to decide who should get help, one sister heads back into the darkness. With the siblings separated, the deadly secrets hidden in the house finally make themselves known and we learn the unspeakable secret that binds the family together.

Critics Review

The Short Straw is an intensely readable and gripping page turner. By turns tense, shocking and moving, and with an atmosphere you could cut with a knife
ALEX MICHAELIDES
An addictive read that takes place over one unforgettable night where one family's secrets rise to the surface - Patricia Highsmith meets Shirley Jackson
GILLIAN MCALLISTER
Deliciously creepy, and a fascinating study of the complex, often toxic, relationships within families
SHARON BOLTON
Utterly gripping and unputdownable
JANE FALLON
Having three sisters, I could relate to the sibling dynamics . . . It's twisty, gothic, and with a heartbreakingly shocking reveal
LISA HALL
Holly creates such exquisite tension that you really can't put her books down . . . I felt the sense of place, the weather, the cold in that house in my bones
EMMA CURTIS
A spectacularly dark, eerie, and haunting mystery. Should come with a 'do not read before bed' warning as you'll be spooked long after you finish turning the pages
SOPHIE FLYNN
Gripping, creepy and drenched in atmosphere
CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD
A highly enjoyable, many-layered mystery with a masterfully handled sense of foreboding...Ending was by turns terrifying, suspenseful, and heart-breaking
Melanie Golding
Three sisters find themselves stranded at the gothic manor house that dominated their troubled childhoods. This irresistible slow-burn thriller is as much a study of family dynamics as it is a creepy & suspense-filled spine-tingler
Fiona Cummins
The Short Straw is creepy, twisty and more than a little Gothic.
Sarah Hilary

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