ONCE UPON A TIME LIKE YOU'VE NEVER HEARD IT BEFORE . . .
DI Lyla Rondell is on the case of a lifetime. Tasked with investigating a series of perplexing deaths, the only lead she has is that each appears to be based on a different classic fairy tale. Far from the stuff of bedtime stories, the press is having a field day with what they have named the Grimm Ripper Murders.
But as the bodies stack up, Lyla's whole world is about to flip on its head. Because the killer's bloody trail stretches deep into her own origin story, and when she discovers the truth, nothing will ever be the same again.
Faced with the fact that everything she knows is fiction, Lyla will have to take a little creative license of her own if she's going to turn the final page on the killings . . .
'An exquisite puzzle of a crime thriller, it revels in the shadows, as reality is savagely entwined with the very roots of storytelling itself… Prepare to be spellbound because A. K. Benedict is a master of this darkest art' JANICE HALLETT
'A clever, clever, thoroughly meta, extraordinarily enjoyable modern fairy-tale with layer after layer of intrigue and a breathless pace, I loved it, especially the delicious happy ever after' ANDREA MARA
'Hugely inventive and mind-bendingly clever' CLAIRE McGOWAN A. K. (ALEXANDRA) BENEDICT is a best-selling, award-winning writer of short stories, novels and scripts. Educated at Cambridge, Sussex and Clown School, she has been an indie-rock singer, an actor, RLF Fellow, and a composer for film and TV, as well as teaching and running the prestigious MA in Crime Thrillers at City University. She is now a full-time writer and creative coach.
As A. K. Benedict, she writes acclaimed short stories, high-concept novels and award-winning audio drama for Big Finish, Audible UK, Audible US and BBC Sounds, among others. She won the Scribe Award for her Doctor Who radio drama, The Calendar Man, and was shortlisted for the eDunnit Novel Award for The Beauty of Murder and the BBC Audio Drama Podcast Award for Children of the Stones. As Alexandra Benedict she writes puzzle-filled Christmas mysteries, of which The Christmas Murder Game and Murder on the Christmas Express were both bestsellers and The Christmas Murder Game was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. Her most recent festive thriller, The Christmas Jigsaw Murders, was published in 2023.
She lives on the south coast of England with writer Guy Adams, their daughter, Verity, and dog, Dame Margaret Rutherford.
Follow her on X @ak_benedict and Instagram @a.k.benedict. 'A twisting tale' My Weekly
'Has the foreboding tension of Stephen King's Misery . . . Benedict delivers a knockout punch that will make readers want to immerse themselves in this nightmarish, blood-soaked murder mystery for a second sitting to see what they might have missed' Buzz Listings
'I was instantly hooked and drawn into this creepy tale. Angela Carter meets Stephen King. Terrifying but in the best possible way. The allusions to the Brothers Grimm were seamless and cleverly integrated. A wicked joy of a book' Chris Bridges
