New novel out today

Sarah Hilary’s new crime novel *The Drowning Place* was published Thursday, April 16, 2026, opening a new detective series from Harvill Secker. (sarahhilary.com) Penguin Books UK lists the book as the first in a “gothic-tinged, Peak District-set police series,” with DS Joseph Ashe and DI Laurie Bower as its lead investigators. Blackwell’s lists the hardback under ISBN 9781787305397 with a 16 April 2026 publication date from Vintage Publishing’s Harvill Secker imprint. (penguin.co.uk) (blackwells.co.uk) Hilary’s own site says the story is set in Edenscar, a town in the Peak District marked by a school bus crash 17 years earlier in which every child drowned except Joseph Ashe. The new investigation pulls Ashe back into that history while Laurie Bower arrives as an outsider trying to settle into the town and the police team. (sarahhilary.com) (booksbyyourbedside.org) The release also marks Hilary’s move into a fresh series after the Marnie Rome novels that began with *Someone Else’s Skin* in 2014. Crime Fiction Lover noted this week that *The Drowning Place* introduces DS Joe Ashe in a new Derbyshire-set sequence. (crimefictionlover.com) (abebooks.com) Harvill Secker acquired two new Hilary novels in a deal reported by *The Bookseller* in June 2025, with *The Drowning Place* scheduled as the first for April 2026. Hilary later said the book would be released in hardback, e-book and audiobook on the same day. (thebookseller.com) (sarahhilary.com) Same-day review coverage shows the book landing with crime readers on publication day. Jen Med’s Book Reviews called it “the brand new thriller” and said Vintage/Harvill Secker supplied an advance copy through NetGalley. (jenmedsbookreviews.com) Other early coverage has framed the novel as a series opener with a strong sense of place. Steph’s Book Blog said the book starts a new series set in the High Peak, while Crime Fiction Lover described Hilary as beginning a new series with this release. (stephsbookblog.com) (crimefictionlover.com) For readers tracking what is new in crime fiction on April 16, the basic release details are now settled: *The Drowning Place* is out today, published by Harvill Secker, and positioned as book one in Sarah Hilary’s DS Joseph Ashe series. (sarahhilary.com) (penguin.co.uk)