Out of Human Sight: A Historical Mystery Novel

Bill O’Jack’s, Saddleworth, 1832.

She bent over it. Him. Bent over him; her grandfather’s body, his nose and brow beaten into his face, a soft, bloodied mess. She stepped back; saw her grandfather’s shirt ripped open at the collarbone. She thought of the bright blood in the eggs she had cracked against the side of a bowl that morning and how she needed yeast. And teeth, teeth caught in the soup like tiny nuggets of stale bread. A faint whistle came from his mouth, the red stickiness bubbling. She crouched over him, grasped at his collar with shaking hands.

The bloody, battered, and unrecognisable bodies of an innkeeper and his son are found in their remote village. As gore-seekers travel from across the country to witness the sight, mill-worker Millie Bradbury, her family, and her discovery have become notorious, and the focus of unwanted national attention.

But then popular local man, Johnny Barkwell, long the apple of Millie’s eye, offers her a life beyond the borders of her girlhood. The promise of marriage, stability, security, and the chance for a new start in the shadow of tragedy.

This new beginning isn’t what Millie would’ve chosen. But as a young wife with few choices, she must comply, and so Millie finds herself on a coffin ship, heading to The Canadas.

Out of Human Sight is a story of grief, family, and longing for home. The journey of a woman seeking a better life, through desperation, resilience, and a will to survive.

Shortlisted for the NorthBound Book Award at the 2021 Northern Writers' Awards