The Night in Question

Description

For readers of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, comes this unforgettable novel about an eighty-seven-year-old woman on a quest for big answers and big adventures.

Florrie Butterfield has lived a life full of unexpected travel and adventure. But at eighty-seven, she isn’t expecting many more surprises to come her way.

Then, one midsummer’s night, something terrible occurs—so shocking and strange that Florrie grows wary. Is it really an accident, or is she being lied to? Is she living alongside a would-be murderer?

The only clue is a magenta envelope, discarded earlier that day.

With her suspicions overlooked and her abilities underestimated, Florrie is determined to uncover the truth. But as she turns detective, she finds herself looking back on her own life . . . and a long-buried secret, traced in faded scars over her knuckles, becomes ever harder to ignore.

Will she discover what really happened that night? Or will much more come to light than even she had imagined?

Prize-winning author Susan Fletcher’s new novel is an absorbing whodunnit that also looks at—and celebrates—the passions, regrets, secrets and adventures of one woman’s extraordinary and inspiring life.“Our octogenarian heroine’s determination to investigate a violent crime on her doorstep leads her to reflect on her colourful past of love and loss, in this wonderfully warm and involving page-turner.” —Clare Chambers, Sunday Times bestselling author of Small Pleasures

“Every word is a jewel. A richly evocative and moving portrait of an unforgettable heroine who will teach you everything you need to know about life and love and loss. The best book I have read for a long time.” —Veronica Henry, internationally bestselling author

“A perfect peach of a novel! Bright and beautiful writing, a delicious cast of characters, and a moreish whodunnit plot told with warmth, wit and emotional intelligence. A novel to be devoured!” —Lucy Clarke, internationally bestselling author

“A wonderful, life-affirming novel, full of surprises, tender of heart, and infused with a spirit as warm and generous as any I have read. It’s a gripping literary whodunnit and so much more. . . . I adored it.” —Emma Stonex, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamplighters

“Totally original, this water-colour pretty novel is as surprising as it is inspirational. I loved it!” —Katie Fforde, Sunday Times bestselling author

“A novel to treasure. Susan Fletcher’s magical prose sparkles, and the story bursts with optimism, compassion, and gratitude. Glorious—in both writing and spirit—it moved me to tears time and time again.” —Emylia Hall, author of The Shell House Detectives

“A wonderful novel, uplifting, tender, wise, funny, sad and a page turner to boot. Florrie is a marvellous creation, warm, complex and with a huge heart. I will miss her company.” —Marika Cobbold, bestselling author of On Hampstead Heath

“How I love this book! A spellbinding mystery, beautifully and richly told, with characters who dive straight into your heart. I couldn’t put it down.” —Hazel Prior, bestselling author of Away with the PenguinsSUSAN FLETCHER is a British novelist. Her debut, Eve Green, won the 2004 Whitbread First Novel Award, the Betty Trask Prize, the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award and the Richard and Judy Summer Read in 2005. It was also shortlisted for the LA Times First Novel Award. Her other novels include Oystercatchers (longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize), Witch Light (shortlisted for the John Llewellyn-Rhys Award and the Writer’s Guild Best Fiction Award) and A Little In Love (winner of 2016 North East Children’s Book Award). Susan is the current Fellow at the University of Worcester as part of the Royal Literary Fund’s fellowship scheme. She lives in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England.CA

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