One night changes everything for Toby. He’s always led a charmed life – until a brutal attack leaves him damaged and traumatised, unsure even of the person he used to be. He seeks refuge at his family’s ancestral home, the Ivy House, filled with memories of wild-strawberry summers and teenage parties with his cousins.

But not long after Toby’s arrival, a discovery is made: a skull, tucked neatly inside the old wych elm in the garden.

As detectives begin to close in, Toby is forced to examine everything he thought he knew about his family, his past, and himself.

“Gripping and suspenseful, with more twists than a rollercoaster, The Wych Elm is a magnificent novel.” John Boyne

“This novel works brilliantly as a twisty pageturner, but it is far deeper and more nuanced than that… [A] “great upheaval” is the modus operandi of the best crime fiction, and this book confirms French as its brightest contemporary star.” The Guardian