The Drowning Place by Sarah Hilary review: A stellar start to a new detective series
A unique and captivating police procedural with a supernatural twist.
The Drowning Place by Sarah Hilary: The key details
- Publish date: 16 April 2026
- Genre: Comedy/crime
- Publisher: Harvill
- Available formats: Hardback, audio and ebook
- Series/standalone: First in a series (DS Joseph Ashe)
- Length: 320 pages
Blurb: Every place has its ghosts. Edenscar, a town in the Peak District, has more than most.
17 years ago, its inhabitants were hit by tragedy when a school bus veered off the road and everyone on board drowned. Everyone, that is, except Joseph Ashe. His miraculous survival has haunted him and the town ever since.
Now a Detective Sergeant in the local police, Joe is called to the scene of a brutal and apparently inexplicable crime. The whole town is spooked, but Joe’s new boss, DI Laurie Bower, more used to inner-city police work, has no time for superstition. She just wants to find the very real killer who has left no trace and apparently had no motive.
Joining forces, Joe and Laurie work to uncover the secrets of Edenscar, both past and present. But when you dig up the dead, expect to get your hands dirty…
The Drowning Place by Sarah Hilary: The review
The Drowning Place is the first entry into a new series following DS Joseph Ashe, and it’s absolutely sold me on the series. Ashe isn’t your usual detective: 17 years ago he was the sole survivor of a devastating school bus crash. It’s an event that has haunted him – both literally and figuratively – ever since.
It makes his role in the police force, operating in the small Peak District town of Edenscar, rather difficult. His childhood best friend might accompany him everywhere he goes, but he can’t let his superiors know. That sort of thing doesn’t go down very well.
But Joseph’s unique position is second fiddle here to the devastating crime that The Drowning Place revolves around. A whole family is found dead – including a baby, in the bathtub. It’s the sort of scene that police officers will never forget, and so Joseph, and his boss DI Bower, are determined to get to the bottom of it.
There’s a lot of names and characters to keep up with here, which can sometimes get a little confusing. But I love how Hilary not only creates intrigue about the crime at hand, but about both officers’ private lives, and about the village of Edenscar as a whole. I know and love the Peak District, and its nature has been captured wonderfully here: it’s both beautiful and at times eerie – much like the narrative itself.
It’s safe to say I’m looking forward to the next case that Joseph Ashe works on (The Cutting Stone will be out in April 2027!). I love a police procedural series and this has all the hallmarks of a great one – with an added supernatural twist to make it stand out from the crowd.
Thanks to the publisher for supplying a copy of the book to facilitate this review.
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