Lesley Kara was a runner-up in the Daily Mail/Penguin Random House First Crime Novel Competition 2017 and is an alumna of the Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ course. She completed an English degree and PGCE at Greenwich University, having previously worked as a nurse and a secretary, and then became a lecturer and manager in Further Education. She has now relocated to the small town of Frinton-on-Sea on the North Essex coast. Her first novel, The Rumour, was a bestseller and has been optioned for TV. photo credit - Christian Davies Photography.