The American Girl

A riveting psychological thriller about an American exchange student in France involved in a suspicious accident—and the dark secrets a small town is hiding. . . .
On a quiet summer morning seventeen-year-old American exchange student Quinn Perkins stumbles out of the woods near the small French town of St. Roch, barefoot, bloodied, and unable to say what has happened to her.
Quinn’s appearance creates a stir, especially since her host family, the Blavettes, has mysteriously disappeared.  Now the media, and everyone in the idyllic village, are wondering if the American girl has anything to do with the missing family.
A Boston reporter named Molly Swift travels to St. Roch, prepared to do anything to learn the truth and score the ultimate scoop.  After Quinn is arrested and a trial by media ensues, she finds an unlikely ally in the young journalist. Molly unravels the disturbing secrets of the town’s past in an effort to clear Quinn’s name, but even she is forced to admit that the American girl makes a compelling suspect.
Is Quinn truly an innocent abroad, or is she a cunning, diabolical killer intent on getting away with murder?

“Beguiles from its first fevered pages. We creep tantalizingly closer to the secrets at the heart of the novel--secrets that both shock us and speak volumes about our preconceptions about teenage girls...A rich, captivating novel you simply can’t put down.” — Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning author of Dare Me and The Fever
“The American Girl is a psychological suspense novel written for the 21st century, where threats play out on Snapchat and hashtags lead the way toward the dark and sinister truth. A modern-day gothic tale that will have readers holding their breath until the last page.” — Lori Rader-Day, Mary Higgins Clark-winning author of Little Pretty Things
“[A] compelling psychological thriller...[with] Poe-like dread and David Lynch-like surrealism...Recommend this one to fans of Allison Brennan, Jennifer McMahon, and Wendy Corsi Staub.” — Booklist

Kate Horsley's first novel, The Monster's Wife, was shortlisted for the Scottish First Book of the Year Award. Her poems and short fiction have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, including Best British Crime Stories. She coedits Crimeculture, a site dedicated to crime fiction and film offering articles, reviews, and interviews with writers.