Greenwich is Scene of the Crime!

Book Review: The Dead of Summer

The Dead of Summer is a real page turner, great fun for the daily commute and really interesting if you happen to live anywhere in the Borough of Greenwich. If you thought Greenwich was just a peaceful laid back old tourist attracting town, think again. Trust me, after finishing this creepy book, you'll never look at Greenwich the same way ever again.

I have to admit, it is a clever book. The author has you hooked from the first paragraph and you can't let the book go just for the simple reason that you want to know what happens to that frail poor little girl. It is a heartbreaking yet chilling take on kids these days: "Mugging, fighting, raping, killing -- Kids today, they're animals". Had it not been for that first italicized paragraph, I doubt I would have bothered reading. But once you embark on the journey, there will be no turning back.

The novel takes place in 1986. Anita's family has just moved to Myre Street after her mother dies. Kyle lives next door. A shady, troubled, secretive boy. He tells Anita that the area is peppered with hidden, disused mines that he intends to find; a perfect playground for restless kids with nothing better to do. However, these mines turn to be the scene of a murder that rocks this quiet peaceful area to its core. It's the summer, and by the end of it, blood is everywhere.

A beautifully compelling story that uncovers the disturbances of not only our youth but the way life takes its toll on adults as well. How what seems to be beautiful could be a facade to something tarnished beyond repair. Haunting by all means. And it happens in Greenwich.

Camilla Way was born in Greenwich, south-east London in 1973. Her father was the poet and author Peter Way. After attending Woolwich College she studied modern English and French literature at the University of Glamorgan. Formerly Associate Editor of the teenage girls' magazine Bliss, she is currently an editor and writer on the men's style magazine Arena. Having lived in Cardiff, Bristol, Bath and Clerkenwell, she now lives in south-east London.

£6.99