Rupture (P)

Literary awards - Macavity Award Nominee for Best First Mystery Novel (2011), Betty Trask Award (2011), Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Nominee for Longlist (2011).

Rupture is a stunning debut novel that unravels the hidden story behind a school shooting and the complex investigation that follows.

When Samuel Szajkowski, a recently hired history teacher, walks into a school assembly with a gun, the tragedy seems straightforward: he murders three students and a colleague before turning the weapon on himself. The case appears to be an open-and-shut situation, with Szajkowski labeled as a psychopath beyond help.

However, Detective Inspector Lucia May, the only woman in her high-testosterone department, begins to piece together the testimonies of various witnesses, uncovering an uglier and more complicated story. This new perspective calls into question the innocence of others, but Lucia's determination to expose the truth is met with resistance from her colleagues, who are more concerned with closing the case than digging deeper.

As the pressure mounts and her colleagues' sexism becomes more evident, Lucia begins to see unsettling parallels between herself and the killer, which further fuels her determination to find the truth. Rupture brilliantly weaves together the perspectives of the witnesses and Lucia’s own viewpoint, creating a narrative that explores themes of justice, guilt, and personal discovery in the face of a devastating tragedy.

A narrative tour de force from a formidable new voice in fiction, Rupture offers a chilling look at the secrets that lie behind a seemingly senseless act of violence and the lengths one will go to uncover the truth.