The One You Love by British author Paul Pilkington, who has written material for BBC Radio, is the 1st novel in his Emma Holden Trilogy of contemporary mystery/suspense thriller novels, starring a woman who becomes embroiled in secrets deadlier than she knows when her fiancé abruptly goes missing and his brother, left beaten and comatose under mysterious circumstances, becomes the prime suspect, even as the real culprit may be stalking her while she tries to uncover the truth, free courtesy of publisher Hodder & Stoughton's Coronet imprint in the UK, and also the author himself, in other countries where he retains the rights.
This appears to have been a previously self-published novel which was picked up for a UK book deal, according to an
interview with the author on Smashwords.
Currently free @
B&N,
Amazon (available to Canadians & in the
UK),
Kobo (also
UK),
iTunes (
UK), &
Google Play (
UK) (not available in EU/Oceania when I spot-checked assorted regional stores, due to Hachette having the rights, though YMMV elsewhere)
If you are interested, an additional unrelated short story with an sfnal crime theme is also offered by the author himself:
Inside the Bubble @
Smashwords (DRM-free choice of formats available worldwide), and thence likely price-matched in the usual other stores.
Description
Days before their wedding, during their last separate nights of hard-partying singledom, Emma Holden's fiance has gone missing. Not only has Dan disappeared without a trace, his brother is found beaten and left for dead, and may not wake up from a coma. Without any evidence, suspicion for the attempted murder falls on Dan - but Emma refuses to believe his guilt. When crime scene photos get splashed across the pages of London tabloids, Emma knows that someone is following her. Watching her. It is an old, familiar feeling, though no less terrifying. A long-hidden family secret seems to unite Emma's troubled past with her dangerous present. As time runs out her trust in her family, her friends -- and Dan -- faces an ultimate test.