No Other Darkness - a first review

Proof copies went out before Christmas and one or two people have finished it already, which is impressive and a little nerve-wracking. Luckily, the only comments I've seen so far have been good ones. Like one from Northern Crime.

'Anyone who loved ‘Someone Else’s Skin’ will not be disappointed with the new Marnie Rome. Sarah Hilary writes the best crime reads. Emotionally intelligent and compelling.'

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Best thrillers of 2014 in The Guardian

Alison Flood made me cry when she picked Someone Else's Skin as the Observer's Thriller of the Month on its publication in March. Now she's done it again, by picking it for this list of Best Thrillers of the Year, alongside Lauren Beukes and Sophie Hannah.

First-time UK novelist Sarah Hilary is another talent to be watched, her debut, Someone Else’s Skin (Headline £7.99), a standout of the year. The first in a series to star DI Marnie Rome, it is set around an attempted murder in a London women’s refuge but travels to even darker territory, as Rome confronts her own past and the murder of her parents by their foster son and falls into the sphere of real evil. Hilary vies with Beukes for most unsettling scene of the year.

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No Other Darkness, Marnie Rome 2

So what do you think? Are you ready? Proof copies going out this week. Published 23 April 2015.

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Someone Else's Skin one of the Observer's Top Thrillers of the Year

Thrilled to be on this list, which includes stellar names like Tana French, Sophie Hannah and Tom Rob Smith.

Alison Flood in today's Observer calls Someone Else's Skin a 'standout of the year' and says I'm vying with Lauren (Broken Monsters) Beukes for 'most unsettling scene of the year' which makes me more happy than is probably decent.

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Someone Else's Skin in The Times

Picked as a top read of 2014, by Felicity Gerry QC, no less. Look at the amazing books in the pic. I'm so proud to be in that mix. Amazing times.



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Someone Else's Skin on BOLO Books 2014 Top Reads

Especially pleased and proud to have made this list, which reads like a Who's Who of the Best Crime Books of 2014. It includes one of my favourite reads of the year, The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood.

“Someone Else’s Skin by Sarah Hilary is a debut novel, but you would never know it from the reading experience.”

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Guardian's Best Crime and Thrillers of 2014

Very happy to have made this list, along with two of my fellow debut novelists, Eva Dolan and Ray Celestin. Laura Wilson in the Guardian described Someone Else's Skin as 'assured and perceptive'.

All her picks are excellent, by the way, and you should buy/read them all.

The Guardian's Best Crime and Thrillers of 2014


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Marnie Rome's Dream Team

Over at the WHSmith blog, I'm dream-teaming Marnie with my favourite fictional detectives including Jack Caffrey, John Luther, Clarice Starling and others.



Ten Times Marnie Worked with New Partners, and One Time She Couldn’t 

Marnie Rome has a great partner in DS Noah Jake, but that didn’t stop me imagining what would happen if I teamed her up with some of my favourite fictional detectives…

3. John Luther

1. Who: Brooding, great-coated hero of Neil Cross’s hit TV drama.
2. Upside: Marnie would control John’s worst impulses, and he’d encourage hers.
3. Downside: He already has a dangerous redhead he hangs out with, way too much.
4. Upshot: Alice would try to kill Marnie.

5. Patrick Jane

1. Who: Reformed (almost) con-man turned police consultant.
2. Upside: He’s the Mentalist; she’s Marnie Rome. They’d solve crimes at the speed of light.
3. Downside: The FBI would get in the way of their teamwork.
4. Upshot: If all else fails, they could run away to the circus together.

And One Time She Couldn’t:

1. Sherlock Holmes

1. Who: Seriously?
2. Upside: A chance for Marnie to get her geek on. Nothing he kept in his fridge would surprise her.
3. Downside: No one likes a smartarse.
4. Upshot: He’d try to solve the mystery in her past, and then she’d have to hire Alice and Gretchen to take care of him.

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