Playdate

It was meant to be your daughter's first sleepover. Now it's an abduction. Lucia Blix went home from school for a playdate with her new friend Josie. Later that evening, her mother Elisa dropped her overnight things round and shared a glass of wine with Josie's mother. Then she kissed her little girl goodnight and drove home.That was the last time she saw her daughter. The next morning, the house was empty. No furniture, no family, no Lucia.In Playdate, Alex Dahl puts a microscope on a seemingly average, seemingly happy family plunged into a life-altering situation.Who has taken their daughter, and why? 'Quickly exerts a grip' Financial Times'A tense thriller that felt utterly real' Jane Shemilt'Fast-paced and unsettling' Guardian'I couldn't put it down' Rachael Blok

Deceptively simple and extremely clever, Playdate is a tense thriller that felt utterly real, with complex, flawed and relatable characters facing underlying fears and horrific possibilities, A tense, exhilarating read that explores every mother's greatest fear – and the consequences of desire. I couldn't put it down, The storytelling is crisp [and] there's a terrifying simplicity about the ordinariness of the plot but particularly interesting are the very different responses of the two parents to their daughter's disappearance, Quickly exerts a grip... This is proof that Dahl is a writer to watch', Dahl plays with a scenario that is every parent's nightmare as she slowly reveals the truth in this fast-paced and unsettling read

Alex Dahl is a half-American, half-Norwegian author. Born in Oslo, she studied Russian and German linguistics with international studies, then went on to complete an MA in creative writing at Bath Spa University and an MSc in business management at Bath University. A committed Francophile, Alex loves to travel, and has so far lived in Moscow, Paris, Stuttgart, Sandefjord, Switzerland, Bath and London. She is the author of two other thrillers: The Heart Keeper, and The Boy at the Door, which was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. Follow Alex on Twitter (@alexdahlauthor), Instagram (@authoralex) and Facebook (alexdahlauthor).