The gripping new thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of
Ruthless Women
‘Guilty Women’s already stamped it’s razor-sharp, blood-stained stiletto heel firmly in the lead to be 2022’s book of the year.’
DAILY MIRROR
‘Revenge, murder and greed, Guilty Women has it all’
BELLA
‘Pure escapism. 5 stars!’
OK! MAGAZINE
‘Not for the faint-hearted! An unputdownable, revenge and lust filled romp of a read that you won’t want to end!’
HEAT
‘If you only read one book this year, then Guilty Women won’t disappoint. It will leave you breathless’
EXPRESS
The cast of RUTHLESS WOMEN is back, and this time they’re in trouble…
Can they get away with MURDER?
On a beautiful island off the English coast, four TV actresses gather. Their fifth member is missing – and only they know why she was killed.
As the secret between them threatens to come out, tensions on set run high.
The women are determined that the show must go on – whatever the cost.
But one of them is on the edge of telling the truth – and no soap opera in the world could survive this scandal…
All of the women have something to hide – but the question is, are they ALL GUILTY?
MELANIE BLAKE is the bestselling author of Ruthless Women, which became a Number 4 Sunday Times hardback bestseller and an ebook bestseller in 2021, selling over 150,000 copies. Guilty Women is her second novel about the cast of Falcon Bay, and her first with HarperFiction.
Growing up in a working-class household with severe dyslexia, Melanie has her own Rags to Riches story, just like that of her characters – at 15 she was told by her school career advisors that her decision to work at a record shop was ‘a clear example that she wouldn’t go far in her career’. They were wrong. By 19 she was working at the BBC’s iconic Top of the Pops show and by 26 she had built a reputation as one of the UK’s leading music and entertainment managers. She also created her own acting agency from scratch which became the most successful independent boutique agency in the UK. Melanie still represents a high-profile stable of actresses, but is also now enjoying success in her own right as a author, playwright and producer.
© Nicky Johnston
#GuiltyWomen
@MelanieBlakeUK
I am so thrilled to have the chance to take my readers back to ‘Falcon Bay’, the setting of my first ever Sunday Times bestseller, Ruthless Women. Who knew that a book about the lives behind the lens of a fictitious soap opera off the Jersey coast would end up being translated into 8 languages, introducing my leading ladies to parts of the globe I’ve still yet to visit!
Book two of the trilogy, Guilty Women, may pick up with the characters from last time, but brand new readers to the franchise will find themselves hooked by the mysterious opening of just what these women have to hide. Returning fans will be shocked at the lengths their favourite characters will go to to survive the latest attack on their idyllic life on St Augustine’s coast, where they film the show loved by millions – and loathed by its enemies.
The larger than life ‘stars’ that fill Guilty Women’s pages are the magic of this book. Because of my history working on some of the biggest syndicated dramas in the world, and my two decades as a talent agent and publicist dealing with not only some of Hollywood’s A-listers but most of the UK famous faces that still appear on your TV screens nightly, I have an ingrained insight that only a rare few get. I’ve had access to those guarded studio gates, those locked dressing room doors, and I’ve been inside the boardrooms and bedrooms of the rich, famous and flawed.
I cannot wait to hear what you all think when you’ve had a chance to escape into the world of Guilty Women. Greed, betrayal, murder, lies, lust, revenge, loathing and friendship all play a part in what I’d like to think is a white-knuckle rollercoaster of a blockbuster ride. So, open that first page, and fasten your seatbelt – it’s going to be a bumpy one!
Best wishes,
