An intelligent and fast-paced crime novel with stand-out characters, Black Sheep Cottage is an accomplished debut from an author to watch out for.

Erica has been receiving text messages intended for someone called Dave and all her attempts to inform the various senders that she is not Dave have failed. As the texts continue she learns more about him and her friend, Maggie, decides they should track him down. After all, what possible harm could there be in playing private detectives? As Erica and Dave enter a relationship, the facts become increasingly unsettling. Maggie is determined to expose the truth, but Erica is initially more willing to forgive outbursts of rage and unexplained incidents, until the story becomes too uncomfortable and uncertainty, suspicion and fear take hold. But have the two friends exposed a crime and if so, what is the truth buried in the secrets being kept? An intelligent and fast-paced crime novel with stand-out characters, Black Sheep Cottage is an accomplished debut from an author to watch for. -- Publisher: Cinnamon Press

Michelle Angharad Pashley completed an MPhil in Endocrinology and a PhD in Genetic Misconceptions. She worked for many years as a lecturer in Biological Sciences at Guildford College after a career in medical research, during which she published several articles on platelet function in the journal, Thrombosis and Haemostasis. In 2002 she retired from lecturing and moved to North Wales with her husband. She worked as a child support worker with Gwynedd Council for 8 years, finally retiring in 2011 to write full-time. Her first novel, Black Sheep Cottage, has been widely reviewed and enthusiastically received, as has its follow-up, The Remains of the Dead. Her latest is the stand-alone mystery novel, Never to be Told.