THEY SAY A GIRL DIED HERE
Two murdered girls. A town with dark secrets.
A race to break a deadly cycle.
Anna Maybourne never imagined herself living in a place like Harper’s Creek, a nowhere town full of dusty farmland plagued by drought. It’s supposed to be a new start for her and her family, but after dropping out of college, Anna feels stuck in place—working a part-time job, watching her little sister grow up, and taking care of her grandmother with dementia, whose paranoid episodes have started to unnerve her. The only interesting thing about her new town, it seems,
Two murdered girls. A town with dark secrets.
A race to break a deadly cycle.
Anna Maybourne never imagined herself living in a place like Harper’s Creek, a nowhere town full of dusty farmland plagued by drought. It’s supposed to be a new start for her and her family, but after dropping out of college, Anna feels stuck in place—working a part-time job, watching her little sister grow up, and taking care of her grandmother with dementia, whose paranoid episodes have started to unnerve her. The only interesting thing about her new town, it seems, is the string of grisly murders attributed to a killer called the Farmhandman—and the clue she discovers that reveals the case is yet unsolved.
Along with outspoken loner Melissa Laverne and handsome deputy Todd Greenbough, Anna fills her hours with the town’s darkest curiosity—but even though the prime suspect is long dead, the Farmhandman murders begin to feel too close for comfort as the anniversary nears. Tension is building in Harper’s Creek, and everyone can feel it. The house is becoming more claustrophobic by the day, and her grandmother is growing stranger. Anna begins to wonder if her delusional moments are somehow the key to discovering the truth about the murders, and if the old house, and her new start, is haunted by its own bloody baggage.
With a devastating, genre-bending mystery at its core, They Say a Girl Died Here is a novel of thrilling and terrifying secrets, with a twist that could only come from the New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes, Sarah Pinborough.
- Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar
- Hardcover
- August 2026
- 320 Pages
- 9781250436689
Buy the Book
$28.99
About Sarah Pinborough
Sarah Pinborough is the award-winning, New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes and13 Minutes. She lives in London.
Praise
“A page-turning suspense masterclass with a mind-blowing twist – Sarah Pinborough at the peak of her powers.” —Chris Whitaker, bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark
“A brilliant novel. . . Sarah has excelled herself. That rare combination of lyrical prose with compulsive storytelling, it’s got a dark, creepy, atmospheric beauty to it that only Sarah could have written. She is the only author who compares to Stephen King, and I don’t say that lightly. Genius work.” —Harriet Tyce, bestselling author of The Lies You Told
“With her trademark mastery, Sarah Pinborough plays with our perceptions in this stunning novel about small-town secrets where nothing is quite as it seems.” —Fiona Cummins, internationally bestselling author of Some of Us Are Liars
“I love small-town America stories, and this is one of the best. Pinborough’s characterization is second to none. Anna’s arrival as a stranger to her grandmother’s small town after an unnameable trauma is entirely credible and focusing on the apparently ‘solved’ murders in the recent past is what she needs to escape her past. But her discovery of new evidence at every turn leads us to believe that these murders were never investigated properly. This is a riveting, pacy read as the tension rises and the stakes grow ever higher when Anna realizes she is the next victim. Absolutely enthralling!”—Liz Nugent, bestselling author of Strange Sally Diamond
“An addictive tale of Midwestern macabre. . . Pinborough’s fierce yet flawed characters are easy to root for, and she doles out the story’s shocking secrets at a tantalizing pace. Thriller fans who like it dark will devour this.” —Publishers Weekly
“Pinborough immediately sets a menacing stage for this psychological thriller with considerable emotional depth.” —Booklist
Discussion Questions
1. How did you feel about Anna as a narrator and protagonist? Did your opinion of her change as more of her past was revealed and the novel progressed?
2. Memory plays a major role in the novel. How do Anna’s lost memories and Evelyn’s dementia mirror one another? What is Pinborough suggesting about memory and identity?
3. Harper’s Creek feels almost like a character in its own right. How did the setting, drought, and atmosphere contribute to the story’s tension?
4. The novel blurs the line between psychological thriller, mystery, and supernatural horror. Which elements did you find most convincing or effective?
5. How did you interpret Evelyn’s experiences? Did you view them initially primarily as symptoms of dementia, evidence of something supernatural, or a combination of both?
6. Family relationships are central to the story. Which relationship felt the most compelling or realistic, and why?
7. Anna and Evelyn share a connection through their fragmented memories. How does this relationship evolve over the course of the novel? Did it feel credible?
8. There are people in town who believe Michael Cairns was guilty and innocent, and even that he is now an urban legend. What does the book suggest about gossip, community narratives, and the stories people choose to believe?
9. How does trauma shape the decisions made by Anna and other characters such as Jamie? Are people ever truly able to leave the past behind? How effective did you find the portrayal of Anna’s trauma within the text?
10. Several characters are outsiders in different ways. How does the novel explore belonging, isolation, and judgment within a small community?
11. The mother daughter relationship between Claire and Anna is very fractious at points. Did you find it realistic? How representative of ‘the middle generation’ is Claire? Having to look after both parent and children?
12. Anna reacts badly to her mother dating – and sleeping with – Lucas. How did you feel about her reactions to him and other men in the novel such as Todd and the Doc?
13. How effective was the pacing of the mystery? Were there clues or revelations that stood out to you in hindsight?
14. What themes do you think are at the heart of the novel and which impacted you most? For example: grief, memory, family, guilt, truth, forgiveness, or something else?
15. What did you think of the ending? Did it feel satisfying, surprising, unsettling, or open to interpretation? What lingering questions, if any, did you have after finishing the book?