Killing Me Softly
The gripping new novel from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author
Will be published approx. on 28. January 2027
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-3996-1314-9 (ISBN)
Description
'Thrilling . . . I adored every single second' YOMI ADEGOKE
'Incredibly funny, brilliantly disturbing, filled with humanity' JOANNA CANNON
'A nifty, twisty crime story of surgical precision' SEBASTIAN FAULKS
Unexpected deaths and untoward incidents are becoming alarmingly frequent at City Hospital's Emergency Department. A&E Senior Sister, Aoife, begins to question whether her new nurses are incompetent - or worse.
Earnest recruit Eden cares deeply for her patients and carries the Code of Conduct around in her pocket, reporting everyone whose views don't align with hers. But despite her self-righteousness, Eden keeps making mistakes. Is she dangerous?
It is Sophie who worries Aoife the most. Acerbic, over-confident and seemingly lacking in empathy, how Sophie ever became a nurse is beyond her. When Sophie begins an affair with Aoife's best friend, Michael, a man twenty-five years her senior, tensions escalate further, threatening to eclipse the fact that lives are at stake.
Aoife is the nurse we'd all want. Compassionate to the core. She's the nicest, kindest nurse in the world. Until she is tested to the limit . . .
Fearless, fast-paced and darkly funny, Killing Me Softly is a jaw-dropping novel about the hidden extremes of nursing and three complex women who hold the lives of their patients - and each other - in their hands.
'Incredibly funny, brilliantly disturbing, filled with humanity' JOANNA CANNON
'A nifty, twisty crime story of surgical precision' SEBASTIAN FAULKS
Unexpected deaths and untoward incidents are becoming alarmingly frequent at City Hospital's Emergency Department. A&E Senior Sister, Aoife, begins to question whether her new nurses are incompetent - or worse.
Earnest recruit Eden cares deeply for her patients and carries the Code of Conduct around in her pocket, reporting everyone whose views don't align with hers. But despite her self-righteousness, Eden keeps making mistakes. Is she dangerous?
It is Sophie who worries Aoife the most. Acerbic, over-confident and seemingly lacking in empathy, how Sophie ever became a nurse is beyond her. When Sophie begins an affair with Aoife's best friend, Michael, a man twenty-five years her senior, tensions escalate further, threatening to eclipse the fact that lives are at stake.
Aoife is the nurse we'd all want. Compassionate to the core. She's the nicest, kindest nurse in the world. Until she is tested to the limit . . .
Fearless, fast-paced and darkly funny, Killing Me Softly is a jaw-dropping novel about the hidden extremes of nursing and three complex women who hold the lives of their patients - and each other - in their hands.
Reviews / Votes
Eye-opening, jaw-dropping, spell-binding . . . I loved its originality, daring and deliciously dark humour -- M J Arlidge What at first looks like a shock-doc of the NHS on life support scrubs up into a nifty, twisty crime story of surgical precision with positive outcomes. Note: Danger of hypertension -- Sebastian Faulks I adored every single second of this compelling, frequently wild ride. As thrilling as it is filthy, Watson perfectly marries hard-hitting themes with a whole lot of fun -- Yomi Adegoke Compelling, moving, incredibly funny, brilliantly disturbing, yet filled with so much humanity. Only Christie Watson could combine all these qualities and turn them into such a page turner -- Joanna Cannon A fearless, fast-paced and fascinating exploration of life and death in our broken health system. Sharp, but with a beating heart. Brilliant -- Anna Mazzola Killing Me Softly is a visceral and eviscerating portrait of life at the sharpest edge of the NHS, the emergency department. Thrilling as a murder mystery, beautifully written, it grabs you by the heart and refuses to let go -- Charlie Gilmour A deliciously dark, twisty, funny novel inhabited by a gloriously complex cast of harassed, heroic and haunted nurses, told by someone who has seen and done it all. A visit to A&E will never be the same again -- John Sutherland Christie Watson is already something of a national treasure and reading Killing Me Softly reminded me why. Racy, hilarious and unputdownable, Watson's novel also manages to tackle many of the urgent issues facing our NHS in a way that is both urgent and salutary. A must-read for anyone coming into contact with our beautiful but broken health system which, let's face it, is all of us -- Gabriel Weston Darkly disturbing, but also funny, I don't know how much of Killing Me Softly is rooted in Christie's first-hand knowledge of an A&E department, but it made me never want to go near a hospital again. Brilliantly drawn characters that have stayed with me long after I finished the book. Bravo -- Nikki Smith What a tremendous page-turner! I inhaled Killing Me Softly. It kept me enthralled, on my toes throughout, trying to get to the bottom of all those extra deaths. As much as this is a thrilling story with compelling characters, it also exposes the systems and conditions in which nurses work day in and day out. I will never think of an Emergency Department in the same way again. Christie Watson invites us in and lays it bare, making us question our assumptions, what we take for granted and what we think we know. This book is a brilliant conversation-starter -- Kate Kemp A rollercoaster and a pageturner! A rich cast of characters and a plot that keeps you guessing right to the end. Not many writers can combine thrilling and poignant, but Christie Watson can -- Gwen Adshead Killing Me Softly is an engrossing, visceral and thrilling novel, told in Watson's elegant style and populated with deliciously dark characters on the frontline of a creaking healthcare system. I loved it -- Olivia Kiernan Killing Me Softly is a twisty psychological thriller that examines how different generations of women can work together in extremis - or not . . . I loved it! -- Julia Samuel Propulsive, visceral and shot through with medical dark humour, Killing Me Softly confirmed that I never want to end up in A&E. With sex, lies and a pulsing moral question at its heart, this is a clever thriller packed with memorable characters - and several eye-opening moments. Casualty on acid -- Sarah VaughanMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Orion Publishing Co
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-3996-1314-9 (9781399613149)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Christie Watson is Professor of Creative Writing at UEA and a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. She has written eight books, including Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, which won the Costa First Novel award, and a nursing memoir, The Language of Kindness, which was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. Christie is a contributor to The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Telegraph, Observer and TedX. Her work has been translated into twenty-three languages and adapted for theatre. She lives in London.