She knows all your darkest secrets... Now she's the woman next door.
'It can't be. Please God, don't let it be. I left all that behind over twenty-five years ago. Didn't I?'
We've just got home after two weeks of sun, sea and relaxation when the doorbell rings. My husband answers and as soon as I hear her voice something jolts through me. It's adrenaline. My body is already in fight-or-flight mode.
It's been twenty-five years, but I'd know that laugh anywhere. I freeze. Don't let her in.
Now she's standing in my kitchen, smiling and shaking my husband's hand with her perfectly manicured nails. Stacy. She's our new next-door neighbour. What is she doing here? What does she want this time? I worked so hard to put the past behind me, to build this life for myself.
I will not let her take it from me.
Penny Batchelor is the Amazon bestselling author of psychological thrillers My Perfect Sister and Her New Best Friend. She is currently writing her fourth. Her short story, 'The Dilemma,' appears in UnLocked, an anthology to raise money for The Trussell Trust. Penny is a co-founder and judge of the ADCI Literary Prize for adult fiction by a disabled/chronically ill novelist. She lives in Warwickshire with her husband. A gripping psychological thriller - perfect for fans of K.L Slater! Author is based in Warwickshire, UK. Member of the CWA, well connected in publishing and writing groups online, regularly does events at local libraries. An alumnus of Faber Academy's six month 'Writing a Novel' course, her first psychological thriller My Perfect Sister was longlisted The Guardian's Not The Booker Prize in 2020. She is a regular speaker at literary festivals and events, both in person and online, with past engagements including Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Women's Prize LIVE, The Society of Authors, Arts University Bournemouth, Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival, London Book Fair, The Reading Agency and Warwickshire Library Service. Disability advocate/activist, writing in Vogue, the Bookseller (she co-edited the 2025 disability takeover edition). In 2022 she co-founded with publisher Clare Christian the ADCI Literary Prize for disabled and chronically ill authors who include positive disability representation in their novels, for which she is one of the judges. Perfect for fans of K.L Slater, Sue Watson and Shalini Boland and Dandy Smith.
