Show Menu

Given Charlotte Philby’s background — she is the granddaughter of the KGB agent Kim — one might expect this to be a spy novel, and there are traces of that. Yet this tale of a life spinning out of control is closer to Patricia Highsmith territory. Gabriela is a counterterror specialist who stumbles into a conspiracy, while journalist Isobel investigates after seeing a woman attacked on Hampstead Heath. What links the two women? Subterfuge, paranoia and chills galore.

More in Features

THE END OF SUMMER reviews

By , 4th July 2024
Features ‘A standout literary thriller.’ THE FT ‘Ingenious, intriguing, colourful and very entertaining, this is the ideal summer holiday novel.’ LITERARY REVIEW

From book to screen

By , 28th February 2023
Features Free resources and tips for would be screenwriters, from a complete novice - and some professionals - as I navigate the process of adapting my novels for TV and film

Observer New Review Q&A

By , 22nd March 2022
Features An interview with Stephanie Merritt about Edith and Kim, the perils of writing about family, and why female spies often get overlooked

Researching Edith and Kim

By , 17th November 2021
Features From a compendium of stories about life at the Bauhaus to a Modernist memoir by the founder of the iconic Isokon, here are some of the books that inspired my forthcoming novel