With my new supernaturally tinged mystery thriller novel A Thorn in Winter now released, here’s an excerpt from chapter 1 as a teaser. The protagonist, Leila Wilmond, has just received a phone call from her husband informing her that his best friend has suddenly died. But whilst Leila feigns being upset, inwardly, she is rejoicing.

  Joel Odell was dead. She could scarcely believe it. So many times, she’d considered telling Patrick the truth but had always lost her nerve. Now the truth need never come out. She was free. All the good times Patrick had with his best friend could remain happy, delusional memories.

  Leila peered through the glass at the car park and the busy city beyond. Buses drove along Royal Parade amid the glaring summer sun. Guilt nibbled her conscience. But she hadn’t deserved to suffer for her misdeeds to this degree. She’d been severely punished beyond anything proportional. Now it seemed God had decided to be merciful.

  Resolving to extinguish all remaining remorse by making a big fuss of Patrick in his time of grief, Leila took a deep breath and returned upstairs. She made her apologies to the rest of the managers, explained she had to deal with a bereavement, and left the building.

  Once inside her red VW Polo, Leila gasped. Oven heat and a steering wheel that felt like a radiator necessitated an immediate opening of windows. The air conditioning was broken, and she’d not yet had the chance to get it fixed. The scent of last night’s Chinese takeaway lingered. Leila had picked up the meal on the way home from work but hadn’t enjoyed a single mouthful as she ate it with Patrick. Her mind had been on Joel, and what he might do next.

  Now she didn’t have to worry about Joel anymore.

  Despite the snarl-up of traffic amid the roadworks near the roundabouts that led out towards Plympton, for once, Leila didn’t feel frustrated by the delays. The steering wheel gradually cooled as she drove, and by the time she reached the driveway of her semi-detached home in the Plympton Chaddlewood estate, Leila felt refreshed. She got out of the car with a spring in her step, then reminded herself that she was supposed to be upset. After all, her husband’s best friend had just been tragically killed.

  But to Leila, this wasn’t a tragedy.

  This was freedom.

Paperbacks and ebooks of A Thorn in Winter, are now available. You can order from Amazon here, direct from my publisher, Ring of Culture, here, from Waterstones here, from Blackwells here, and from various other outlets.

Excerpt from A Thorn in Winter by Simon Dillon, published by Ring of Culture. © Simon Dillon. All rights reserved.