Press Release - The Dark Lake, Sarah Bailey

Credit: Alise Black

DEBUT AUSSIE CRIME NOVEL THE DARK LAKE ATTRACTS ENORMOUS BUZZ

• Allen & Unwin made a significant advance offer ahead of auction
• Since sold to a leading American publisher for a high six-figure deal
• Currently attracting a flurry of interest from other territories

‘I read THE DARK LAKE in a single sitting, one great gulp of reading pleasure. I loved the frazzled female cop as narrator, not a hard-bitten tough guy of neurotic detective but a flesh-and-blood young mother you’d like to have a drink with: flawed, human and real. I loved that she took me down a dark and twisting road, told me things I couldn’t completely believe, and made me doubt everything I thought I had figured out. This is a different kind of crime novella and a stunning debut that will find and thrill readers all over the world.’ – Jane Palfreyman, Publisher, Allen & Unwin

THE DARK LAKE is a stunning first novel by a young writer from Melbourne, set to make a splash both here in Australia and overseas.

‘We so believed in the potential of this manuscript that we made a significant offer to pre-empt world rights for THE DARK LAKE in Australia and then sold US rights to a leading American publisher for a high six-figure deal,’ says publisher Jane Palfreyman. ‘This has resulted in a flurry of interest and offers from other territories which is just the first piece of well-deserved good fortune that we feel will be going the way of THE DARK LAKE and its talented and brilliant author, Sarah Bailey.’

Brooding, suspenseful and explosive, Sarah Bailey’s crime thriller is a haunting story of one woman’s descent into a world of secrets and lies. Its twisted, propulsive plot, intriguingly flawed characters and regional Australian setting will draw readers in from the very first page.

A beautiful young teacher has been murdered, her body found in the lake, strewn with red roses. Local policewoman Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock pushes to be assigned to the case, concealing the fact that she knew the murdered woman in high school years before.

Author Sarah Bailey has a background in advertising and communications. She has two young children and currently works as a director of creative projects company Mr Smith. Over the past five years Sarah has written a number of short stories and opinion pieces but THE DARK LAKE is her first novel.