I guess we’ve all had moments in our lives where some unexpected event has triggered memories we had forgotten were even there. Perhaps the smell of someone’s perfume that ignites a memory of a loved one long since departed or a meal that was once a sought-after favourite and moves your taste buds to long for the experience anew.

But what if some horrific encounter was to bring back memories of altogether less pleasant times? This is precisely what happens to Pauline Higgingbottom, the central character in my new book, Memory of Murder.

When Pauline discovers the body of her brother, Ralph, in the hallway of his home and it is clear he has not died a natural death, the experience triggers a series of terrible recollections from her own past. But why is this so and what do these memories, so desperately unwelcome, have to do with the murder? Perhaps all the more importantly for Pauline, what part will they play in her own, endangered future?