Laura and Owen’s new home should be lovely. But, soon after moving into the secluded cottage on the edge of the Peak District, Laura starts to hear faint snatches of birdsong.

Her husband, wrapped up in his job, is rarely at home. Nervous and alone, Laura cannot decide whether the noise is real – or if it’s coming from inside her head. Her doctor can find nothing wrong with her hearing. Then an archaeological dig on a neighbouring hill unearths some disturbing finds – and Laura’s life starts to become terrifying...

This novel-length ghost story also includes the opening of the tense psychological thriller, Outside the White Lines.

‘The last time I felt such a sense of menace in a story was after reading Susan Hill's The Woman in Black’
Amazon Reader Review

Praise for Chris Simms

‘Chris Simms has never shown any reluctance to chill the blood of the reader.’ (GOOD BOOK GUIDE)

‘Simms has written a gritty novel that grips from start to finish. I just couldn’t put it down.’ (HORRORSCOPE)

‘After many years of reviewing… it’s not often my jaded nerves get actually, physically jangled.’ (MORNING STAR)

A chilling thriller, this will have you leaving the light on when you climb into bed.’ (LOVE READING)

About the Author

Chris Simms' acclaimed first novel in the DI Spicer series, KILLING THE BEASTS was selected as a Best Crime book for 2005 by SHOTS magazine. He was then selected as a Waterstone's Author for the Future, one of 25 writers tipped by publishers, editors and agents, to produce the most impressive body of work over the next quarter century. Since then he has been nominated several times for the THEAKSTON'S CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR and for CRIME WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION DAGGERS.

Chris lives near Manchester, on the edge of the Peak District in sight of a church perched on top of a hill...