Middle England, mid-1980s. The kind of place where nothing ever happens. Except something has happened. A 15-year-old boy called Robert has been killed, down by the pools. And half a dozen lives will come unravelled. There's Kathryn and Howard, Rob's parents. Kath has been making the best of her second marriage after the love of her life died young. Howard has been clinging onto a family life he hardly expected to have.

There's Joanna, the teen queen of nowheresville. She's been looking for a way out, escape from her parents' broken marriage. She thought Rob might take her away from all this, but lately she's started to think Rob might have other plans. And then there's Shane, with the big hands and the backward brain and the fixation on Joanna.

Check out an extract from The Pools taken from newbooks issue 46.

For more information on the author, go to the publisher's Bethan Roberts page.