Sacrifice (51 page)

The terns have found somewhere else to build their nests now. We don’t blame them: we’re going to do the same.

Afterword

The stories on which
Sacrifice
is based are documented, but not extensively; largely because for many years Shetlanders felt no need to write them down. The remote location of the land kept its population stable and for a long time word of mouth was considered enough. I have learned that there was even a certain reluctance amongst the islanders to talk about these strange and supernatural events.

But gradually, over the years, people from outside the islands became interested, then intrigued, and books about Shetland lore began to appear in our bookshops. It was my discovery of the chilling legend of the Kunal Trows (in Aylesbury Public Library of all places) that gave rise to the idea for
Sacrifice
. I wrote this in the English home counties, not venturing north until it was all but complete.

And so my first real glimpse of Shetland was on a clear, crisp morning in late November. The huge expectations I’d built up over several years of writing about the land were not remotely disappointed; I
thought it easily the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.

From Sumburgh airport I drove north up the main island, unable to stop smiling as each bend in the road offered a view more stunning than the last; across Yell, the colour of an autumn leaf, and on to Unst, which truly must be the loveliest and loneliest place on earth.

Throughout the day the people I met were warm and friendly, effortlessly helpful and entirely normal (what, I asked myself, had I really expected?), and I wondered that these marvellous islands could be so little understood, so rarely visited. I began to have misgivings: could I really have written such a grim story about such a warm and wonderful land? And yet . . .

Later that evening, Lerwick seemed unnaturally quiet and uncomfortably dark as I followed my map to the small church of St Magnus. Try as I might, I couldn’t bring myself to walk down the shadowy, silent street with the weird trees and the empty, brooding buildings. I decided to come back in daylight, and walked instead towards the sea. Dark, damp fishing nets were strewn across every driveway: quite what or who they were destined to catch I didn’t like to dwell on. I reached the beach, only to find a group gathered silently around a massive bonfire on the sand. Was it a delayed Guy Fawkes celebration (it was long past November 5), or something else entirely? I remembered all the stories I’d read, of women disappearing, of prisons on remote islands,
of shadowy grey men who preyed on their human neighbours, and Richard’s words crept, unwanted, into my head. ‘So many stories, so much nonsense: little grey men who live in caves and fear iron. Yet, tucked away inside all legends, a kernel of truth can be found.’

I headed quickly back to my hotel, reflecting that, whilst I might technically still be in Britain, I was a long way from home . . .

THE END

Acknowledgements

Up front, a very special thank-you to Kerry and Louise, my two first readers, for proving that true honesty is something you will only ever hear from true friends (and younger sisters).

For patiently checking the medical detail, I am sincerely grateful to Dr Denise Stott and Drs Jacqui and Nick Socrates. Any remaining mistakes are entirely my own.

On the subject of mistakes, I tried very hard to make my portrayal of Shetland as accurate as possible, but there were a few occasions when its geography just didn’t fit the demands of the story. I hope the islanders will forgive the occasional liberty I’ve taken with their wonderful landscape.

I relied a great deal on reference material and would like to acknowledge the following works:
The Book of Runes
by Ralph Blum,
Shetland Folklore
by James R. Nicholson,
British Folklore, Myths and Legends
by Marc Alexander,
Exploring Scotland’s Heritage
, HMSO Books,
Northern Scotland and the Isles
by Francis Thompson,
Encyclopaedia of World Mythology
by Arthur Cotterell,
Shetland: Land of the Ocean
by Colin Baxter and Jim Crumley,
Around Shetland: A Picture Guide
, published by the Shetland Times Ltd,
British Regional Geology: Orkney and Shetland
from the Natural Environment Research Council,
Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect
by T. A. Robertson and John J. Graham,
Bodies from the Bog
by James M. Deem,
Human Remains: Interpreting the Past
by Andrew Chamberlain,
Modern Mummies: The Preservation of the Human Body in the Twentieth Century
by Christine Quigley,
The Scientific Study of Mummies
by Arthur C. Aufderheide,
Conception, Pregnancy and Birth
by Dr Miriam Stoppard and
Natural Solutions to Infertility
by Marilyn Glenville. For procuring most of these books for me, and never once batting an eyelid at my ever more peculiar requests, I am grateful to Sheila and her colleagues at my local library.

‘There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls’ is taken from the book
Brain Droppings
by George Carlin. Copyright © 1997 Comedy Concepts Inc. Reprinted by permission of Hyperion. All rights reserved.

I would like to thank Sarah Turner at Transworld for her confidence in the book and for her hard work in polishing away its rough edges; and also the rest of the Transworld team, especially Patsy Irwin, Nick Robinson and Kate Samano.

Last, and by no means least, my heartfelt thanks to Anne Marie Doulton of the Ampersand Agency and to the wonderful Buckman family: the best agents any author could wish for.

About the Author

Sharon Bolton
(previously S. J. Bolton) is the author of six critically acclaimed novels: this is her seventh novel and features the popular DC Lacey Flint and DI Mark Joesbury.

She has been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and the CWA Dagger in the Library.

Sharon lives near Oxford with her husband and young son. For more information about her and her books, or to check out her addictive blog, visit
www.sharonbolton.com
. You can also join her on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/SJBoltonCrime
.

HAVE YOU READ THEM ALL?

THE LACEY FLINT THRILLERS

NOW YOU SEE ME

A savage murder on London’s streets, 120 years to the day since Jack the Ripper began his reign of terror. Lacey Flint hunts a psychopath whose infamous role model has never been found . . .

‘Probably the best thriller that you’ll read all year’
Choice Magazine

DEAD SCARED

A spate of suicides at a prestigious university, each more horrific than the last. The only way to find the killer is to send someone undercover: Lacey Flint becomes the bait . . .

‘Sharon Bolton is hot property in crime fiction right now’
Stylist

IF SNOW HADN’T FALLEN (A SHORT STORY)

Tensions come to the boil when a young Muslim man is brutally murdered by a masked gang. There’s just one witness: DC Lacey Flint.

‘Bolton knows precisely how to ratchet up the tension and tell a cracking story’
Guardian

LIKE THIS, FOR EVER

Twelve-year-old Barney Roberts is obsessed with a series of local murders. His neighbour DC Lacey Flint joins the hunt for the killer . . .

‘Spine-tingling’ Lisa Gardner

A DARK AND TWISTED TIDE

Police Constable Lacey Flint thinks she’s safe. Living on the river, working on the river, swimming in the river, she’s never been happier. It can’t last . . .

‘Bolton’s latest gripper. Suffused with menace’
The Times

THE STAND-ALONE THRILLERS

SACRIFICE

Tora Hamilton, a newcomer to the remote island of Shetland, discovers a woman’s body preserved in the mud of her field. Who is she, and why is Tora so unwelcome here?

‘If she carries on like this she will have worshippers in their millions’
The Times

AWAKENING

A series of unnatural events are occurring in Clara Benning’s village. The reclusive vet discovers a connection to an abandoned house, and a fifty-year-old tragedy the villagers would rather forget . . .

‘This book writhes and glides and slithers its way into the reader’s psyche’
Guardian

BLOOD HARVEST

Harry, the new vicar in town, is subjected to a series of menacing events. What secret is his parish hiding from him, and who is the young girl lingering in the graveyard?

‘Well-crafted, original and spooky’
Daily Mail

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SACRIFICE
A CORGI BOOK: 9780552159753
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN: 9781407033532

First publication in Great Britain
Bantam Press edition published 2008
Corgi edition published 2009

Copyright © Sharon Bolton 2008

Sharon Bolton has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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is available from the British Library.

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