About the Book

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2018

From award-winning crime writer Belinda Bauer, “the true heir to the great Ruth Rendell” [Mail on Sunday (UK)], Snap is a gripping novel about a teenage boy’s hunt for his mother’s killer.

Jack’s in charge, said his mother as she disappeared up the road to get help. I won’t be long. Now eleven-year-old Jack and his two sisters wait on the hard shoulder in their stifling, broken-down car, bickering and whining and playing I-Spy until she comes back.

But their mother doesn’t come back. She never comes back. And after that long, hot summer’s day, nothing will ever be the same again.

Three years later, Jack’s fifteen now and still in charge . . . alone in the house. Meanwhile across town, a young woman called Catherine While wakes to find a knife beside her bed, and a note reading I could of killed you. The police are tracking a mysterious burglar they call Goldilocks, for his habit of sleeping in the beds of the houses he robs, but Catherine doesn’t see the point of involving the police. And Jack, very suddenly, may be on the verge of finding out who killed his mother.

A twisty, masterfully written novel that will have readers on the edge of their seats, Snap is Belinda Bauer at the height of her powers.

Praise for Snap

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2018

“With her deeply quirky take, Belinda Bauer is totally unlike contemporaries, and all her crime novels have a very distinct identity. Readers never know what to expect with each new novel, except that it will be highly accomplished.”—Financial Times (UK)

“The children steal the show in Belinda Bauer’s unnerving suspense novel.”—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times

“Bauer deftly interweaves a West Country cold-case murder, a teenage master burglar, some ill-assorted coppers and a pregnant wife, knowing exactly when the turn the dial to humor, pathos or something darker. Intelligent entertainment that keeps you guessing.”—Sunday Times Crime Club (UK)

“The best crime novel I’ve read in a very long time.” —Val McDermid, author of Insidious Intent

“[A] spine-chilling, tension-packed gripper.”—Woman & Home (UK)

“Bauer secures her place as a star in the British psychological-suspense firmament with this tightly written tale . . . Readers who miss Ruth Rendell are sure to become fast Bauer fans.”—Booklist (starred review)

“How in the world did Belinda Bauer create this 14-year-old Robin Hood of a cat burglar who stole my heart? I absolutely loved this utterly satisfying read. My ‘gotta know’ knotted with overwhelming sympathy for the victimized and Snap gripped me to the last page.” —Randy Susan Meyers, bestselling author of The Widow of Wall Street

“Snap is the best kind of crime novel—it gives you chills, it makes you think, and it touches your heart. I loved it!” —Sarah Pinborough, author of Behind Her Eyes

“Original, pacy and thoroughly entertaining . . . A cracking read.”— Clare Mackintosh, author of I See You

“I can’t begin to describe how much I love Belinda Bauer’s work. Every book is better than the last and this one was truly extraordinary. While on the surface a psychological thriller, it really is so much more. Bauer writes her characters with such nuanced perfection that the reader experiences numerous reactions to them all. I don’t want to give any spoilers away but I will be recommending this book to everyone, whether they like thrillers or not.”  —Linda Quinn, Fairfield Public Library

“Is there a current writer in the genre who can be guaranteed never to repeat themselves—and who comes up with an original premise for each new book? . . . It is the highly individual Belinda Bauer. Snap, her latest novel, continues this pleasing trajectory . . . There are echoes of earlier novels here: Julian Gloag’s Our Mother’s House and Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garden, but Bauer (as ever) is very much her own woman, and produces something that exerts a considerable grip on the reader.”—Crime Time (UK)