Readers looking for a superb thriller that has characters that’ll make you care and a propulsive narrative threaded with disturbing real-life issues should rush to read Notes on a Drowning. This is the first contemporary tale from British lawyer and author Anna Sharpe, who’s previously written several excellent historical crime novels as Anna Mazzola.
Sharpe pulls us into a twisting, sordid tale of legal intrigue, power and corruption, and human trafficking. Already starting to fray due to workplace and personal pressures, determined lawyer Alex is roped into more pro bono work – the bane of her boss’s life – with an inquest into the drowning in the Thames River of Moldovian teenager Natalia. A tragic accident fuelled by partying, alcohol and drugs, say the police and others. But resolution isn’t so simple for Natalia’s family, and the facts don’t add up for Alex.
Or is she just projecting the trauma and suspicions raised by her own younger sister’s disappearance overseas, many years ago? Past and present collide when Kat, an ambitious special advisor to the Home Secretary who is trying to forget her own history, becomes involved after stumbling across troubling information that powerful people may be trying to hide.
Notes on a Drowning is an excellent modern thriller powered by taut storytelling, fascinating characters, and tough issues.
A cracking, troubling tale.
Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna is an award-winning writer of historical, Gothic and crime fiction. She also writes legal/political thrillers under the name Anna Sharpe.
Anna regularly appears at literary festivals and events and gives talks and teaches workshops on creative writing. She has previously tutored at The Novelry and The Arvon Foundation.
Her debut novel, The Unseeing, won an Edgar Allan Poe award. Her fourth novel, The House of Whispers, won a Fingerprint Award for Best Historical Crime. Her bestselling third novel, The Clockwork Girl, was shortlisted for two CWA Dagger awards and a Fingerprint Award, and nominated for the Dublin Literary award.
Her fifth novel, The Book of Secrets, is based on a real case from 17th century Rome and was a Times Historical Novel of the Month for March 2024.
When not writing, Anna works as a human rights and criminal justice solicitor acting for survivors of crime. She is also a volunteer for Doorstep Library, working with underprivileged children.
She lives in South London, with one husband, two children, a black cat and a snake.
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