Jay Parini: This pulp novel, rushed out under a pseudonym in 1953 and picked up for rerelease in 2015, is a third-rate work that my friend Gore would have preferred to languish in obscurity
A shocking tragedy in an otherwise idyllic childhood summer comes back to haunt its sole survivor in adulthood – all the ingredients for a tense thriller that's perfect holiday reading
Melanie McGrath: Brutally detailed murder stories appeal to female readers both for the real anxieties they tap into, and for their metaphorical resonances