A Quiet Contagion

Six decades. Seven people. One unspeakable secret.

1957. A catastrophe occurs at the pharmaceutical lab in Coventry where sixteen-year-old Wilf is working for the summer. A catastrophe that needs to be covered up at all costs.

2017. Phiney is shocked by the death of her grandfather, Wilf, who has jumped from a railway bridge at a Coventry station. Journalist Mat Torrington is the only witness.

Left with a swarm of unanswered questions, Phiney, Mat and Wilf's wife, Dora, begin their own enquiries into Wilf's death. It is soon clear that these two events, sixty years apart, are connected - and that Wilf is not the only casualty.

But what is the link? And can they find out before any more lives are lost?

A Quiet Contagion is a powerfully disquieting mystery for modern times, inspired by the 1957 Coventry polio epidemic and the 1955 Cutter Incident (one of the worst pharmaceutical disasters in US history - which saw thousands of American children mistakenly infected with a live polio vaccine) as well as the more recent global coronavirus pandemic.

PRAISE FOR JANE JESMOND

'An original voice in crime fiction' - Sunday Times on Cut Adrift (A Best Crime Novel of 2023)

'Jesmond's delineation of her characters as people with plausible flaws and hot tempers adds depth and complexity to a story that might wear its sentiments on its sleeves, yet which is trimly steered and freighted with contemporary resonance' - Times on Cut Adrift (Thriller Book of the Month)

'In an over-saturated market, finding a new voice with something compelling to say in the crime writing field can be difficult. Thankfully there are people out there trying to deliver a twist on the genre, and Jane Jesmond is one of them' - On Yorkshire Magazine on Cut Adrift

'This amazing debut novel from Jane Jesmond will give you all the thrills you've been looking for and keep you gripped from the get-go' - Female First on On The Edge

'Evocative, compelling and pulse-pounding' - Philippa East on On The Edge

About the Author
Jane Jesmond writes crime, thriller and mystery fiction. Her debut novel, On The Edge -the first in a series featuring dynamic, daredevil protagonist Jen Shaw - was a Sunday TimesBest Crime Fiction of the Month pick. The second in the series, Cut Adrift, was theTimesThriller of the Month and aSunday TimesBest Book of 2023 upon its publication.A Quiet Contagionis a brand-new standalone mystery and her third book with VERVE Books.
Although she loves writing (and reading) thrillers and mysteries, her real life is very quiet and unexciting. Dead bodies and dangerous exploits are not a feature! She lives by the sea in the northwest tip of France with a husband and a cat and enjoys coastal walks and village life. Unlike Jen Shaw, she is terrified of heights.