Last Kiss by Louise Phillips
PRAISE FOR LOUISE PHILLIPS
‘A gripping, suspenseful story peopled with well-drawn characters’
Irish Independent on The Doll’s House
‘A real page turner … Phillips’ book is laced with tension and gradually builds to a thrilling finale’
The Irish Post on The Doll’s House
‘A great read told at breakneck speed … cue sitting on the edge of your seat for 400 pages’
BBC Radio Ulster on The Doll’s House
‘Chilling, mesmerising. Gets under your skin and stays with you’
Niamh O’Connor on The Doll’s House
‘Every bit as good as her debut, Red Ribbons, this time with much more of a slant towards a psychological thriller which fans of Sophie Hannah and S.J. Watson will devour’
Writing.ie on The Doll’s House
‘If you enjoy the psychological thrillers of writers in the same vein as Sophie Hannah, Erin Kelly et al, [this book] sits very comfortably. I will definitely be seeking out Phillips’ first novel Red Ribbons on the strength of this one’
Raven Crime Reads on The Doll’s House
‘Phillips doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of Dublin city … Her characters are well-crafted, the plot interesting and well-executed and, at the risk of sounding cliché, a page turner. It’s gritty and it’s dark, but at the same time hopeful … A brilliant read. I devoured it’
Emu Ink on The Doll’s House
‘A cracker of a novel, highly recommended, a phenomenal debut’
Arlene Hunt on Red Ribbons
‘An absolutely brilliant book … spine-tingling with loads of twists and turns. A debut novel from a great writer who will soon be up there with the likes of Patricia Cornwell’
Stafford FM on Red Ribbons
‘Dark, spooky but believable’
Irish Examiner on Red Ribbons
‘Red Ribbons has been getting rave reviews, especially for the insight it offers into the emotions of a mother who has lost her child’
Irish Mail on Sunday on Red Ribbons
‘The pace of this book is spot on, revealing information from the killer’s past bit by bit to keep the reader turning the pages’
Novelicious on Red Ribbons
Red Ribbons, the bestselling debut novel by Dublin-born crime author Louise Phillips, was nominated for the Ireland AM Crime Fiction Book of the Year Award at the BGE Irish Book Awards in 2012. Louise won the award in 2013 for her second novel The Doll’s House.
Louise returned to writing in 2006, after raising her family. In addition to her novels, Louise’s work has been published as part of various anthologies and literary journals. She has won the Jonathan Swift Award, was a winner in the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice platform and her writing has also been short-listed for the Molly Keane Memorial Award and Bridport UK.
Last Kiss is her third novel.
For Caitríona and Carrig
PROLOGUE: 1982
The young girl walked towards the forest dressed in an oversized grey coat and black wellington boots that belonged to her father. Her head was bent beneath a raised collar and her long black hair shrouded her strained face. To a stranger, Ellen could have been taken for someone older than her fifteen years, hunched over like an aged soul.
As she reached the outskirts of the woodland, the ground underfoot became slimy, laden with fallen twigs and leaves. Early light sprinkled between the overhead branches, but she didn’t look up, not once. When the first droplet slid down her inner thigh, it touched her kneecap with the gentleness of a moth. She had felt the back pains a few hours earlier, and even though they had eased, she knew it was her time.
Amid the creaking and rustling of the trees, she heard something move in the undergrowth. For a brief moment she stood still, a cold chill spreading through her body as another bead of the amniotic fluid reached her swollen ankle. She swallowed hard, looking all around her, knowing she needed to find somewhere safe, and that the life she had hidden inside her for so long would soon have to leave. Placing a hand beneath her coat, she held the underside of her engorged belly. A sharp breeze from the valley tossed her hair rebelliously in the wind, as if it was the only part of her still free to choose.
She had left the house when all inside were sleeping, sneaking around, no longer feeling she was part of it. The village, too, looked strange with its empty streets, and the moon still visible, hanging low in the early-morning sky. When she passed her old school, she imagined the sound of young voices in the yard, and felt utterly alone.