This Wild, Wild Country: The most gripping, atmospheric mystery you'll read this year

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

'Thrilling, haunting and darkly beautiful' Chris Whitaker, bestselling author of We Begin at the End

Three women. An isolated town. A decades-old mystery.

1933. Cornelia Stover is not the kind of woman the men of Boldville, New Mexico, expect her to be. But, one day, she stumbles upon a secret hidden out in the hills . . .

1970. Decades later, Joanna Riley, a former cop, packs up her car in the middle of the night and drives west, fleeing an abusive marriage and a life she can no longer bear. Eventually, she runs out of gas and finds herself in Boldville, a sleepy desert town in the foothills of the Gila Mountains.

Joanna was looking for somewhere to hide, but something is off about this place. In a commune on the outskirts a young man has been found dead and Joanna knows a cover up when she sees it. Soon, she and Glitter, a young, disaffected hippie, find themselves caught up in a dark mystery that goes to the very heart of Boldville. A mystery that leads them all the way back to the unexplained disappearance of Glitter's grandmother Cornelia forty years before . . .

A captivating, atmospheric new novel from the lauded author of The Long, Long Afternoon, This Wild Wild Country simmers with secrets, lies and terrible betrayal, unravelling the lives of three women at the mercy of their times.

Praise for Inga Vesper

'Remarkably assured. A tale of inequality, broken dreams and quiet desperation behind a picture-perfect facade' Guardian

'A clever and absorbing debut' The Times

'Beguiling and evocative. This vivid and atmospheric pageturner will keep readers guessing all the way to its satisfying finale' Sunday Express

'Beautifully crafted, claustrophobic and compelling. As delicious as a long drink on a hot day' Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars and The Foundling

'Such a vivid atmosphere of stifling LA heat and stifling 50s domesticity' Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures

'Breathtakingly stylish, hypnotic and masterfully gripping' Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin at the End, Waterstones Thriller of the Month

'A triumph. What a pleasure to read something fresh and original. For once the hype is justified and Inga Vesper's gripping page turner must surely now be bound for Netflix' Evening Standard

'A tasty, tense, page-turning combo of James Ellroy and Kate Atkinson with a bit of Mad Men thrown in'
Liz Hyder

'An atmospheric tale of repression and style at the heart of the American Dream' Stylist

Reviews

'Inga Vesper's debut, The Long, Long Afternoon, was an atmospheric crime story set in 1950s American suburbia. In this second outing, she returns to the theme of the American dream souring . . . Vesper is immensely readable on the three women's different lives, and the constraints put upon them by society. Glitter is particularly well drawn; the idea of free love is abused by the men around her, yet she persists in her belief in hippy ideals.' - Sunday Times

'A thrilling, haunting and darkly beautiful story. This Wild, Wild Country enchants as mysteries deepen and secrets echo over the harsh realities of the American Dream.' - Chris Whitaker, bestselling author of We Begin at the End

'Just as compelling and beautifully written as The Long, Long Afternoon. I simply could not put it down!' - Alex Gray

Author Bio

Inga Vesper is a journalist and editor. She moved to the UK from Germany to work as a carer, before the urge to write and explore brought her to journalism. As a reporter, she covered the coroner's court and was able to observe how family, neighbours and police react to a suspicious death. Inga has worked in Syria and Tanzania, but now lives in Glasgow, because there's no better way to find a good story than eavesdropping on the chatter in a Scottish cafe on a rainy day.