A woman with dark circles under her eyes stands on your doorstep, clutching a little boy’s hand. Your heart stops. You let her into your home once before, and it nearly cost you everything…

When you first took Riley in as a teenager, you showed her what it was like to have a family, as you piled homemade spaghetti onto her plate and brushed the tangles from her long, black hair. You thought she was grateful.

Until she disappeared one night. It shook your sleepy hometown to its core, and you were never allowed to foster another child again.

Fifteen years later, the doorbell rings. It takes you a second, but then you spot the unmistakeable deep blue pools of her eyes. “I’m so sorry for everything. Please help us, we have nowhere else to go,” she begs. Her sweet little boy yawns, and your heart cracks open.

Riley won’t say much about where she’s been. You don’t press her. But you notice how she jumps at every knock at the door, and the strange way she watches you sometimes. Then one night you find out she argued viciously with an old school friend.

The same friend who is found dead the very next morning.

An icy fear settles inside you. Why did your foster daughter really come back? What secrets are about to be revealed—and just how far will she go to protect them?

An absolutely gripping psychological thriller, packed with twist after jaw-dropping twist. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn and Lucinda Berry.