Across eight instalments last year, from March to May, the nation was gripped with the mystery surrounded the murder of eleven year old Danny Latimer.

Delivering a slow burn and achieving rare ‘appointment TV’ status, the drama kept us guessing right up until the end when 9 million viewers tuned in for the finale.

Working from Chris Chibnall’s scripts, novelist Erin Kelly – whose psychological thriller The Poison Tree got the ITV drama treatment last year – allows us the inside track on the internal lives of the characters resident in the sleepy village on the Dorset coast.

While it remains utterly faithful to the story seen on screen, as well as adding in the deleted scenes which emerged as DVD extras, we became easily embroiled in the twists and turns. It was a strange feeling at first, following the unfolding investigation while knowing full well who the culprit was and yet we were soon engrossed. On another level, there was a gleeful element of hunting for clues to the reveals and a sense of satisfaction to be gained from seeing things coming.

The core perspectives of the book are familiar. We fumble through the gamut of emotions with grieving mother Beth Latimer, dealing with the horror as it unfolds and then begins to unravel all she holds dear.

Her friend Ellie Miller leads us through the police aspect, struggling to balance family life alongside the pressures of the case and the imposition of her taciturn new boss. We feel her begin to redefine her relationships, as she begins view all her fellow townsfolk as potential suspects.

Inside Inspector Alec Hardy’s mind we understand more of what drives him, his desperation to do right by the family of this victim while remaining haunted by failure on a previous case. One particular joy was to see his mental line-up of suspects as the case unfolded.

As the story draws to a close, it retains all of its emotional power and gut-wrenching intensity and brought a tear to the eye. Whether you hid under a rock last year and knew nothing of it, or whether you wish to relive the drama, we cannot recommend the novel highly enough.

If the television show was the 2D version, played for you to watch, then this book is the 3D adaptation which allows you to step into the town and live the story with the residents themselves.

One thing we failed to spot however, but apparently seeded by series creator Chris Chibnall, is a clue to the upcoming second series which is currently filming. It is something to look out for as we endure the wait for the show’s return, sometime in 2015.

Published on Thursday 14 August 2014 by by Sphere.

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