You Can Stay

A chilling drama * Sunday Times *
The plot twists and turns with spectacular speed - ripping along at terrific pace. * Daily Mail *
Down By The Water takes the reader on a weekend trip from hell… I loved the classy writing and ever-growing sense of unease in this clever subversion of a classic country house mystery * Harriet Tyce *
Sinister and atmospheric, peeling back the superficial veneers of friendship to reveal the darker truths that lurk beneath * Chris Brookmyre *
Absolutely loved this - so dark, yet laced with humour, and such clever plotting. Loved the characters, and the ending is sublime. * Susi Holliday *
You Can Stay was so gripping I read it in one compulsive sitting! * Claire Askew, author of the DI Birch series *
Filled with mystery and suspense. * The Scots Magazine *
A fast, ingenious read that always takes the road less favoured. * Crime Time *
Lucy has created an unforgettable villain, a ‘Gorgon of Wellness’, a villain for our times - Misery for the Goop generation. You Can Stay is fantastic - an absolute treat of a book. * Catherine Simpson, author of Truestory and When I Had a Little Sister *
I have never fallen so hard for a book this far out of my comfort zone. A stunning book about gender and power, and a fine homage to Stephen King’s Misery. Deeply unsettling, and impossible to put down. * Claire L Heuchan *
If you like your female protagonists sinister, mysterious and complex - think Otessa Moshfegh’s Eileen - then you will love You Can Stay. A chilling and twisty drama that kept me in its grip throughout. * Elissa Soave, author of Ginger and Me *
Prepare to be creeped out and morally compromised by slippery and intriguing characters locked in a battle of wills. In her protagonists, Connel has created an unforgettable interrogation of what it means to dominate, to submit and to betray for the sake of a higher ideal - no matter how misguided. Witty, grounded and entertaining, this is a thrilling read. * Lynsey May *
A psychological thriller with both depth and drive, Down By The Water is a gripping mystery * Nathan Ripley *
Elle Connel picks away the veneer of old friendships in this sinister and compelling tale of sorrow, secrets, and betrayal. * E. S. Thomson *

Elle Connel is the pseudonym of Lucy Ribchester, whose previous novels, The Hourglass Factory and The Amber Shadows, were historical thrillers. She has a first class degree in English from the University of St Andrews and a Masters in Shakespeare Studies from Kings College London. Her previous work has won her a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award and a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, and she has been short-listed for the Costa Short Story Award and Manchester Fiction Prize. She lives in Edinburgh with her partner and two sons. Down by the Water is her first book as Elle Connel.

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