The Alibi Girl. C.J. Skuse

      

Praise for C J Skuse

      ‘This darkly comic novel…has the potential to become a cult classic’

       DAILY MAIL

      ‘This isn’t a book for the squeamish or the faint-hearted … think Bridget Jones meets American Psycho’

       RED

      ‘Filthy and funny… a compulsive read’

       SUNDAY TIMES

      ‘You MUST read this book especially if you like your (anti) heroes dirty-mouthed, deadly dark, dark dark. I adored it’

      FIONA CUMMINS, AUTHOR OF RATTLE

      ‘This anti-hero is psychotic without doubt… incredibly funny’

       SHOTS

      ‘Brutal, bone-crunching, enthralling and entertaining… as brilliant as it is shocking, and marks a fascinating turning point for a young and vibrant author’

       LANCASHIRE POST

      ‘If you like your thrillers darkly comic and outrageous this ticks all the boxes’

       SUN

      ‘Makes Hannibal Lecter look like Mary Poppins… this is going to give me a serious book hangover’

      JOHN MARRS, AUTHOR OF THE ONE

      C J SKUSE was born in 1980 in Weston-super-Mare. She has two First Class degrees in Creative Writing and Writing for Young People, and aside from being a novelist works as a Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University.

Also by C J Skuse:

       Sweetpea

       In Bloom (Book 2 in the Sweetpea series)

       For Young Adults:

       Pretty Bad Things

       Rockoholic

       Dead Romantic

       Monster

       The Deviants

      The Alibi Girl

      C J Skuse

      ONE PLACE. MANY STORIES

Copyright

      An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

      First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2020

      Copyright © C J Skuse 2020

      C J Skuse asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Ebook Edition © January 2020 ISBN: 9780008311407

Note to Readers

      This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

       Change of font size and line height

       Change of background and font colours

       Change of font

       Change justification

       Text to speech

       Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008311391

      For my excellent friend, Laura Myers

      Alibi Clock (n):

      a clock which strikes one hour,

      while the hands point

      to a different time,

      the real time being neither one

      nor the other.

      E. COBHAM BREWER 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.

      Contents

       Cover

Praise

       About the Author

Booklist

       Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

       Dedication

Present Day

Chapter 1: Ellis

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4