A Quiet Contagion

LoveReading Says

Slipping between two timelines, a web of deceit, corporate cover-ups and human tragedy unfolds in Jane Jesmond’s A Quiet Contagion — a slow-burn thriller that melds family drama and danger with questions around pharmaceutical ethics.

In 2017, Phiney is utterly shocked when her grandfather Wilf jumps from a bridge to his death. Though there was a witness — Mat, a local journalist — she and Wilf’s widow struggle to believe he killed himself. And so the trio set about investigating what happened and why, with their search kicked off when Phiney discovers Wilf once worked for Poulter’s Pharmaceuticals.

The big question is, why had Wilf been reading an old article about the company right before his death? And why had the company’s former chairman died on the same day? As Mat remarks, “there’s always been a whiff of the Wild West about the pharmaceuticals industry”, and a sense of Wild West danger and being a law unto yourself certainly ramps up as shocking secrets are uncovered.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About A Quiet Contagion

A disquieting contemporary mystery with a historical twist and fast-paced plot, from the author of the Jen Shaw series.

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