The First Girl

"Delivers with both style and substance. . . Claire McGowan is one of my favourite authors and this is a truly first-class read."—Louise Candlish

She believed her serial-killer ex was innocent, but now history is repeating itself. What does she really remember?

Writer Karen Walker knows more than most about murderers. Her first love went on to become The Bagman, a notorious serial killer now locked away for life in a maximum-security prison.

Karen has spent her life running from the weight of having loved him, defended him and, ultimately, leading the police to his door. But now, ten years later, just as she’s about to publish her account of his crimes, a young woman is abducted in horribly familiar circumstances.

It can’t be The Bagman…can it? He’s safely behind bars, thanks to her. But she has to know for sure.

Returning to the hometown she thought she’d left for good, Karen is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the man she’s never escaped. If there’s any chance of saving the kidnapped girl, she’ll have to face up to what really happened back then, once and for all…