REMEMBER ME

From the author shortlisted for Best Crime Novel in the Ngaio Marsh Awards for Crime Fiction, and for Best International Crime Fiction in the Ned Kelly Awards comes this heartfelt, page-turning suspense novel, ideal reading-group fiction, perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult and Liane Moriarty.

Are some secrets best left buried? After years of living overseas, Emily returns to New Zealand to care for her father, Felix, who has dementia. As his memory fades and his guard slips, she begins to understand him for the first time - and to glimpse shattering truths about his past. In the months before leaving New Zealand, her home town Taunui was rocked by the disappearance of a passionate young conservationist called Leah. She was last seen setting off on a four-day hike to collect data for her doctoral research. She was well-equipped, experienced, and left a note in a mountain hut outlining her intended route; but her body was never found. Felix, a keen climber himself, led one of the search teams who combed the area. The newspapers called Leah 'a rising star in conservation, a loss to the nation', and twenty-five years on, Leah's disappearance is still the subject of speculation in Tainui. There's a rumour that she ran away to escape a violent boyfriend and is now living overseas. One day, as Emily rummages in Felix's bedside drawer, she finds a tattered envelope containing photos of Leah, and handwritten notes that leave no doubt that she and Felix were in a relationship. Emily is appalled. Leah was young enough to be Felix's daughter. He was her GP, he was trusted by her family, and he was still married at the time. It dawns on Emily that she's never known her father at all, and that he may have been involved in Leah's disappearance. When her father disappears, Emily finally opens a letter Felix left her to read after he died, which reveals the truth of what happened 25 years ago. What will Emily do with this confession, and will she be able to save her father? Charity Norman was born in Uganda and brought up in successive draughty vicarages in Yorkshire and Birmingham. After several years' travel she became a barrister, specialising in crime and family law in the northeast of England. Also a mediator and telephone crisis line listener, she's passionate about the power of communication to slice through the knots. In 2002, realising that her three children had barely met her, she took a break from the law and moved with her family to Aotearoa New Zealand. Her first novel, Freeing Grace, was published in 2010. Second Chances (After the Fall) was a Richard and Judy Book Club choice and World Book Night title. See You in September (2017) was shortlisted for Best Crime Novel in the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards for Crime Fiction. The Secrets of Strangers is her sixth book and has been shortlisted for Best International Crime Fiction at the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards and shortlisted for Best Novel at the 2021 Ngaio Awards. Remember Me is her seventh book.