The Impossible Thing

From the Sunday Times bestselling and Booker-longlisted author of Snap , and winner of the CWA Crime Novel of the Year, comes 'An exciting contemporary whodunnit' ( Times Literary Supplement) *****’A unique crime novel that is both moving and funny . . . highly recommend’ ***** 5-STAR reader review *****Longlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year ***** A summer’s evening in 1926, and six-year-old Celie Shepherd is hungry, desperate and dangling from a cliff, as she stretches out to steal something impossible. The bold theft will change Celie’s life, and the lives of many others. One hundred years later, a remote home is ransacked by masked men. The only thing taken: a dusty box containing that same impossible thing. What could be so unique - and so valuable - that it is stolen again and again . . . and again? So begins this extraordinary mystery from award-winning Belinda Bauer. The Impossible Thing brims with skulduggery at every turn, and is a blazing testament to Belinda Bauer’s status as one of our greatest living crime writers. ‘The most suspenseful whodunnit you’ll read this year’ LEE CHILD ‘A funny, moving and beautifully written tale’ Guardian ' Joyous . . . The most gripping yarn’ Daily Telegraph 'A brilliant rollercoaster of a crime novel' ROB COWEN Readers are OBSESSED with The Impossible Thing ! ‘ Enthralling , hilarious, mysterious… I thoroughly enjoyed this book’ 5-STAR reader review ‘A perfect crime caper' Woman & Home ‘Pure joy ’ VAL MCDERMID ‘Packs a real punch ’ ANN CLEEVES ‘ Astonishing ’ New York Times 'Comic, thrilling and ultimately moving' The Scottish Mail on Sunday ‘I loved every page of this unique mystery.’ CLARE MACKINTOSH, bestselling author of I Let You GO ‘One of the most enjoyable novels I've read in ages’ PAULA HAWKINS, bestselling author of The Girl on the Train

From the Sunday Times bestselling and Booker-longlisted author of Snap , and winner of the CWA Crime Novel of the Year, comes 'An exciting contemporary whodunnit' ( Times Literary Supplement) *****’A unique crime novel that is both moving and funny . . . highly recommend’ ***** 5-STAR reader review *****Longlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year ***** A summer’s evening in 1926, and six-year-old Celie Shepherd is hungry, desperate and dangling from a cliff, as she stretches out to steal something impossible. The bold theft will change Celie’s life, and the lives of many others. One hundred years later, a remote home is ransacked by masked men. The only thing taken: a dusty box containing that same impossible thing. What could be so unique - and so valuable - that it is stolen again and again . . . and again? So begins this extraordinary mystery from award-winning Belinda Bauer. The Impossible Thing brims with skulduggery at every turn, and is a blazing testament to Belinda Bauer’s status as one of our greatest living crime writers. ‘The most suspenseful whodunnit you’ll read this year’ LEE CHILD ‘A funny, moving and beautifully written tale’ Guardian ' Joyous . . . The most gripping yarn’ Daily Telegraph 'A brilliant rollercoaster of a crime novel' ROB COWEN Readers are OBSESSED with The Impossible Thing ! ‘ Enthralling , hilarious, mysterious… I thoroughly enjoyed this book’ 5-STAR reader review ‘A perfect crime caper' Woman & Home ‘Pure joy ’ VAL MCDERMID ‘Packs a real punch ’ ANN CLEEVES ‘ Astonishing ’ New York Times 'Comic, thrilling and ultimately moving' The Scottish Mail on Sunday ‘I loved every page of this unique mystery.’ CLARE MACKINTOSH, bestselling author of I Let You GO ‘One of the most enjoyable novels I've read in ages’ PAULA HAWKINS, bestselling author of The Girl on the Train

'A perfect crime caper.' Woman & Home 'Comic, thrilling and ultimately moving.' The Scottish Mail on Sunday ‘The gift of The Impossible Thing is the pure joy of reading .’ VAL MCDERMID 'Extraordinary. There's a deceptive simplicity to The Impossible Thing that packs a real punch. ' ANN CLEEVES From the exceptionally original mind of CWA Gold Dagger Award winner, Sunday Times bestselling and Booker-longlisted author Belinda Bauer, a sweeping tale about a hungry young girl, an impossible discovery, and a crime that remained unsolved for one hundred years. . . until now. It was the greatest mystery never told . . . 1926. On the towering cliffs of Yorkshire, men are lowered on ropes to steal the eggs of the sea birds who nest there. The most beautiful are sold for large sums. But when small and hungry Celie Sheppard finds an 'impossible' red egg, it will forever alter the course of her life - and the lives of others. One hundred years later in a remote cottage in Wales, Patrick Fort discovers his friend, Nick, and his mother tied up and robbed. The only thing missing: a carved case containing an incredible scarlet egg. Doggedly attempting to retrieve it, Patrick and Nick discover the cruel world of egg trafficking, and soon find themselves on the trail of a priceless collection of eggs lost to history. Until now. A taut, wonderfully imagined novel brimming with skulduggery at every turn, The Impossible Thing is a blazing testament to Belinda Bauer’s status as one of our greatest living crime writers. ' Solid gold . . . This could be her best ever.' LEE CHILD ‘A captivating novel from one of the UK’s most talented storytellers . I loved every page of this unique mystery.’ CLARE MACKINTOSH 'Fans of Bauer know to expect something original from this most ingenious of crime writers . . . A funny, moving and beautiful written tale of misfits and oological obsession.' The Guardian PRAISE FOR BELINDA BAUER: 'As good as Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time . . . and with more twists and coils than a hangman's noose .' Sunday Express on Rubbernecker ‘Few writers who convey so well the essential sadness of life do so with such warmth and wit’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Belinda Bauer’s fiction teems with life . She’s also an ingenious creator, never afraid to improve on reality .’ Daily Telegraph ‘Belinda Bauer has shifted the boundaries of what makes a truly gripping, terrifying thriller.’ Daily Mirror