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The author uses little details to do a lot of heavy lifting; ‘two mounds of earth’ beneath the apple tree tells the reader that this little victim isn’t the killer’s first. The ‘three small faces’ in the window, who witness the little body being buried, tell the reader that there are more potential victims ripe for the picking, and that they too are vulnerable and defenceless. Having such innocent victims really makes the reader root for them from the get-go and want to find justice for them.

By the end of the prologue, the reader wants to find a detective that will eat, sleep and breathe the case, and happily, in chapter one we will find this in Detective Lottie Parker, who will stop at nothing to prevent another innocent life being taken...

The prologue is full of the rich descriptive detail and quality prose readers expect in this genre, but importantly, these lines combine with the tension to build hope. This is shown most clearly in the author’s use of stars. When the reader begins the prologue there are none, but then Emilia spots four stars in the sky in the final few lines. She has already found hope in this prologue, the promise of an end to this war, of survival for her and the other people in town. Even in this short prologue her character develops: she goes from being tentative and scared to being certain she will escape and return to her home. If readers want to find out more about Emilia and what happens next, they must read on, and it’s clear what sort of journey they will go on if they do.

Eleanor needs to be intriguing and relatable in equal measure. To achieve this we have some small details about her own unusual and outlandish backstory paired with hints about secrets in her and her uncle’s pasts PLUS her all-important feelings and inner thoughts on the above. We’re told a lot of details about her family backstory, but the third person POV also lets us get inside her head through showing her thinking to herself and thus we immediately empathise with her.

As an introductory scene, the writing is laced with description of the environment Eleanor finds herself in. The third person POV allows for a greater freedom in detailing her surroundings but also lets the author highlight Eleanor’s personal reactions to this environment and starts to build that relationship between reader and character. So what at first seems like a totally charmed and highly unrelatable situation is immediately brought back down to earth with Eleanor’s feelings on the matter.

Another benefit of the first-person voice is that a writer can easily show the difference between what a character is thinking and how they are acting or presenting to the world. In this extract, the speaker doesn’t want to tell the police ‘something I shouldn’t.’ It would be much more difficult to convey this so directly in third person. Intriguing backstory is even hinted at with ‘I am rusty on this protocol.’, suggesting this is not the first time the speaker has interacted with the police. If this was in third person the author might have to tell us this information rather than showing it to us. Showing is so often more compelling.

The experience of reading this prologue is a little more like watching a TV drama unfold: there is a sense that we aren’t inside the head of our character. Third person means we sometimes have to ‘tell’ readers more than we ‘show’. This can be a very impactful technique.

This narrative choice limits empathy – we aren’t given any insight into what the characters know or feel. But that increases the sense of mystery. If we had access to the thoughts or emotions of the two characters we’re introduced to, we would know their theories about why the flowers are sent, and understand why the old man weeps. The fact that we don’t makes us more intrigued to find out what lies behind this strange crime. The omniscient point of view also clarifies what will drive the novel – we will be investigating this mystery as a detective, from the outside. Lastly, the distance enhances the sense of a big world, containing a mystery that hasn’t been solved even after 44 years.

An omniscient narrative voice isn’t used often, and usually not for a whole book. In this prologue it works because these are not characters or a situation we need to empathise with, but what we’re going to investigate. Being kept at a distance gives us a sense of the large scope of the mystery, and enhances our interest in finding out what’s going on.

The author uses an immediate change in pace at the start of the chapter, describing a slight pause before the reader is catapulted into the scene with a dramatic shoot out. Using short sentences to mirror the gunfire, the opening lines are a series of actions, describing how quickly everything is unfolding. And then there is a dramatic pause as everything goes quiet, and we’re left wondering if Josie and her colleague are going to survive. Our heroine is vulnerable and even though the gunshots have stopped, we know the killer is still at large, waiting to pounce.

At the very end of the scene, we know that Josie has been captured. As the author describes the crunch of leaves and Josie’s world going black, it leaves the reader desperate to find out what happens next. Does she make it out alive? What happened to her colleague? And will she save the missing girl? All of these questions will only be answered if the reader carries on and dives straight into the next chapter.

In this extract, we are privy to just one scene – one moment or interaction in the characters’ lives – and this one moment takes up an entire chapter. This is a hallmark of McFadden’s writing: rather than tell us about events after they have happened, we get glimpses of immediate action. This makes the book feel pacy, fast and immersive: we are plunged into a moment and live it right alongside our characters.

In terms of the scene itself, events happen quickly. Details are given about Nina destroying the kitchen on the first page. In the second page, an argument and discussion unfolds between Nina and Millie. On the last page, Nina leaves the room and the pace slows down a little: it’s the calm after the storm. This quieter moment is just as important as the drama and near-violence on previous pages for delivering satisfying pace.

Tension is created in the very first line. A woman is ‘systematically destroying’ her own kitchen. It’s an unusual, violent act: the contrast between the destruction itself and the idyllic domestic setting is what creates tension.

Tension is often created via conflict. This doesn’t just mean an argument between characters: it can be opposing views or subtly opposing motives; or a contradiction between what we say or do and what we mean. Nina says Millie took or threw away her notes; Millie is certain she did not do this; and Andrew believes Millie over his own wife, but he doesn’t make this clear to Nina herself. A husband and the housemaid are subtly ranked against the wife. Tension is thus created between the three characters: who do we believe? What are Nina and Andrew’s motives for their actions?

Tension is also created when a character seems to lie to themselves. There is conflict between what they say and do, and what we as readers believe they might truly think. Mille thinks to herself ‘Nina isn’t the person she used to be. But it doesn’t matter. It’s none of my business.’ As readers, we subtly disagree and almost don’t believe Millie. It feels like a lie she is telling herself: an attempt to brush off the strange situation she finds herself in. Of course she would be curious about why Nina is the way she is. As readers, we are certainly curious, and we are compelled to read on to find out.

The setting is then reinforced along with the fact there is a body and lots of activity from police and forensics, indicating there’s a story to unfold about what’s happened. There’s lots of hints that the circumstances are untoward, creating tension.

Details about the setting such as the storm rolling in, are used to create further tension in the prologue.

The end of the prologue then goes back to remind the reader all of this is being observed by a woman watching from a window nearby. There’s tension around her character and how she’s observing things: she’s not gone out to help and seems strangely unemotional. And then the prologue ends with a number of punchy lines to reveal that the woman is connected to the body on the sand – he is the man she once loved. The line ‘He was popular with the opposite sex, too popular, if anything’ is simple but does a lot in terms of hinting to the reader that there are complex relationship issues here.

Then the prologue ends on the line ‘And that was one of the reasons why he was now dead.’ This is a superb final line of the prologue because it leaves the reader with lots of questions about what happened and why. This will encourage them to turn the page to discover the story. Cliffhanger chapter endings are really important for pace because you don’t want a reader to come to the end of a chapter and think it’s the perfect place for them to stop reading, you want to create intrigue so that they feel they have to flip the page and keep reading.

When Lydia explains how her husband died, the writer takes time so that readers can empathise with her and become immersed in the scene, then short sharp sentences reveal further complications that make the unfolding of this information pacy. The ebb and flow of the narrative is just as important for pace. Lydia owns a cottage in Kerry she could escape to, but the author chooses her words carefully here: Lydia’s lawyer says it ‘could’ be her salvation, so the tension remains. In this difficult situation, will Lydia and her daughter be OK? A cliffhanger final sentence to keep readers on the edge of their seats. This is the perfect example of an author quickly introducing tension and controlling pace.

Tension is created by conflict. Gabe wants to take care of Anna; Anna is saying she is OK, but it’s quite clear to us as readers that she is lying to herself about the threat the landlord poses. And the biggest factor contributing to the tension in the latter scene is the fact Anna is lying to Gabe about something bigger. Gabe believes that Anna’s mother will be returning to the apartment. But hints are continually dropped that Anna is hiding something: she thinks to herself that she isn’t prepared to answer his questions, she doesn’t have a reasonable explanation, and she continually diverts attention from herself on purpose. All this adds to the tension. Once he leaves, tension is reduced – Anna has what she wants and starts to relax a little. And the final lines give us a big answer: her mother is never returning. She’s been lying to Gabe the whole time. This serves to partially resolve tension. We know now why Anna has been lying and hiding things but an undercurrent of tension still remains: what has happened to her mother and why is she lying about her absence?

Resolution reduces tension: but resolution is a very necessary step. A novel that is entirely tense all the time would not be a satisfying read. Tension must be constantly introduced, resolved and reintroduced again.

In the space of just a few paragraphs, we are taken on a satisfying reader journey where the variations in tension serve to create pace.

Coupled with this, we are shown a protagonist on the edge of her own renewal and growth – she is getting divorced at the same time her daughter is planning her wedding and she feels left behind, like the world is moving on without her. So the tension here comes from being on this edge: Jo is on the cusp of change in her own life, will she throw herself into it? Or stay stuck? Again, increasing reader investment in the character journey helps to make the pace feel satisfying for the reader – it already feels like they are in the thick of things with the protagonist, though it is only Chapter 1. 

Then at the very end of the chapter we have a very clear call to action: ‘I knew. It was time. Time to talk about the war.’ This final line of the chapter is so full of promise – the reader knows there’s a big story coming here, an unravelling of a family dynamic and Jo’s place in it. Everything is about to change for the characters in the biggest of ways, secrets will be revealed. Again, the tension here comes from the wanting to know – what are the secrets coming? How will Jo get through this? And on a more straightforward pacing level, ending the chapter in this way clearly signposts to the reader exactly what they are reading on to find out and that is it coming immediately – we have our burning question.