High Season

The beautiful and arresting new upmarket thriller from the author of The Girls of Summer.In the heat of summer, the past can become hazy. . .For twenty years, Nina Drayton has told herself that she must have seen her sister, Tamara, being murdered by the family babysitter - Josie Jackson. That she doesn't remember it because she was five, and amnesia is a normal trauma response.But now, with the anniversary of Tamara's death approaching and true crime investigators revisiting the case, Nina finds it harder to suppress her doubts. Returning to her family's sparkling villa on the Cote d'Azur for the first time since the murder, she wants to uncover more about the summer that changed so many lives. Because if she was wrong, then she sent an innocent woman to jail - and the real killer is still walking free.

Katie Bishop is a master storyteller. In High Season, she weaves a beautiful, intricate mystery that tests the strength of memory and time and the harsh consequences of both. Complete with an exotic setting, flawed and complex characters, and spellbinding prose, High Season is an absolute masterpiece. Sara Ochs, author of The Resort
High Season ripped me out of a reading slump as I found myself devouring this tale of privilege, loss, and the slippery nature of memory. The setting is so perfectly rendered that you can almost taste the saltwater, and the characters are so sensitively drawn I often had a knot in my stomach as I read late into the night. Bishop writes unbelievably beautifully about the complex relationships forged in youth, and the fragility of memory in the aftermath of tragedy. Ella Berman, author of Reese Witherspoon Book Club-pick BEFORE WE WERE INNOCENT
True crime meets the Côte d’Azur in this layered, insightful novel that transcends its absorbing premise. Mystery and secrets abound at the Pink House, but it’s Katie Bishop’s vividly drawn characters and their web of entanglements that will keep you turning pages. High Season handles its themes deftly—about trauma and memory, class and girlhood, family and forgiveness—while also offering a nuanced critique of true crime voyeurism. Propulsive, escapist, and sharp. Emily Layden, author of ONCE MORE FROM THE TOP
Praise for Katie Bishop :
It's been a long time since I've read such a compelling debut. Beautifully written, transportive, and thought-provoking, THE GIRLS OF SUMMER sizzles with suspense. It's the book I'll be recommending that all my girlfriends pack for their holidays this summer. Lucy Clarke, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE CASTAWAYS
This startling debut...packs an incredible punch. The dark undertow of an idyllic summer and the lies girls are told and tell themselves are captured with stark, affecting honesty and evocative prose. The Times
This debut should be on every summer reading list... THE GIRLS OF SUMMER explores consent, the power discrepancies in relationships, control, and the intoxication of lust in a gripping read that is visceral and raw. Buy it. Glamour
Reminiscent of HBO's hit The White Lotus... The obvious read-alike is My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russell, and the plot-driven tension will appeal to fans of psychological suspense. Booklist
A mesmerising, unsettling and gripping debut. Catherine Ryan Howard, bestselling author of RUN TIME
Lures you in then shakes you up. A very timely read about consent and control. LOVED IT. Nikki May, author of WAHALA

Katie Bishop is an author and journalist based in Birmingham, UK. Her journalism has been published in The New York Times, the Guardian, Vogue and many others. Her debut novel, The Girls of Summer published in 2023. High Season is her second novel.

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