July 2010 Good Housekeeping selection.

The Poison Tree, by former Cosmopolitan writer Erin Kelly, tells the story of strait-laced student Karen whose life is upended when she meets Biba, a charming yet troubled aspiring actress. They spend a decadent summer together until tragedy strikes. Better than chick lit, this is a really great read.

Synopsis

It is the sweltering summer of 1997, and Karen is a strait-laced, straight-A university student. When she meets the impossibly glamorous Biba, a bohemian orphan who lives in a crumbling old mansion in Highgate with her enigmatic brother Rex, she is soon drawn into their world -- but something terrible is about to happen, and someone's going to end up dead. Already drawing comparisons to Barbara Vine, Tana French and Sophie Hannah, Erin Kelly is an extraordinarily talented new author.

Reviews

'In her compelling debut, Erin Kelly evokes the brooding atmosphere of Rebecca, in a contemporary and completely convincing novel of tangled family desires.'
Sara Paretsky

'An elegant and sophisticated writer, great on sense of place.'
Sophie Hannah

'Tense and menacing right from page one, filled with foreboding and a terrible sense of the inevitable. Kelly builds a feeling of claustrophobia and of seemingly ordinary people driven to do extraordinary things. It's a gripping psychological thrill ... and I expect the author to go far.'
Bookseller

About the Author

Erin Kelly read English at Warwick University. She has worked as a freelance journalist for over ten years and has written for the Daily Mail, Psychologies, the Guardian and Cosmopolitan, among others. She lives in North London with her family. THE POISON TREE is her first novel.   Author photo © Middleton Mann More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation