The Killer Next Door

No. 23 has a secret. In this gloomy, bedsit-riddled South London wreck, lorded over by a lecherous landlord, a horrifying collection quietly waits to be discovered. Yet all six residents have something to hide.

Collette is on the run from her former gangland bosses; Cher is an underage children’s home escapee. Friendly but lonely Dougal tries to make friends with his neighbours; and a gorgeous Iranian asylum seeker and a tag-wearing skinhead try to keep their heads down. But there for them all is Vesta, a woman who knows everything that goes on there – or thought she did.

Then in the dead of night, a terrible incident pushes the six into an uneasy alliance. But one of them is a killer, expertly hiding their pastime, all the while closing in on their next victim.

As the cloying city heatwave presses down, events build to an electrifying climax in this brilliantly constructed, flawlessly paced thriller.