A top ten New York Times bestseller. With the haunting emotional power of American Dirt and the atmospheric suspense of Where the Crawdads Sing: a compulsive debut novel that explores the aftershock of a brutal crime on the women of a small Texas oil town.‘The very definition of a stunning debut’ Ann Patchett‘Brilliant, sharp, tightly wound, and devastating’ Elizabeth Gilbert‘Quite simply one of the best books I’ve ever read’ Jeanine Cummins, author of American DirtMercy is hard in a place like this. I wished him dead before I ever saw his face… In a place like Odessa, Texas choosing who to trust can be a dangerous game.Mary Rose Whitehead isn’t looking for trouble – but when it shows up at her front door, she finds she can’t turn away. Corinne Shepherd, newly widowed, wants nothing more than to mind her own business, and for everyone else to mind theirs. But when the town she has spent years rebelling against closes ranks she realises she is going to have to take a side.Gloria Ramirez, fourteen years old and out of her depth, survives the brutality of one man only to face the indifference and prejudices of many.When justice is as slippery as oil, and kindness becomes a hazardous act, sometimes courage is all we have to keep us alive.