In My Dreams I Hold a Knife : A Novel
Author(s): Ashley Winstead
“Deeply drawn characters and masterful storytelling come together to create an addictive and riveting psychological thriller. Put this one at the very top of your 2021 reading list.” —Liv Constantine, internationally bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish
Six friends.
One college reunion.
One unsolved murder.
Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has been invited back to her university for a reunion and she is obsessed with dazzling everyone with her beauty and success. This time when they see her, it has to be perfect because she is perfect. Not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather Shelby’s murder fractured everything, including the tight bond linking the six friends she’d been closest to since freshman year.
But there’s more at stake than the delicious envy of her peers—not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. In fact, someone has orchestrated the whole weekend to trap the real killer. As the weekend unfolds and they get closer to the truth, the group finds there was more than murder hidden amongst them on campus.
Told in racing dual timelines, with a dark campus setting and a darker look at friendship, love, obsession and ambition, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife is an addictive, propulsive thriller you won’t be able to put down.
Review(s):
“Tense, twisty and packed with shocks, Ashley Winstead’s assured debut dares to ask how much we can trust those we know best—including ourselves. A terrific read!”
“Deeply drawn characters and masterful storytelling come together to create an addictive and riveting psychological thriller. Put this one at the very top of your 2021 reading list.”
“Beautiful writing, juicy secrets, complex female characters, and drumbeat suspense—what more could you want from a debut thriller? I'm Ashley Winstead's new biggest fan. If you liked Marisha Pessl's Neverworld Wake or Laurie Elizabeth Flynn's The Girls Are All So Nice Here, trust me—you will love this.”
“Nostalgic and sinister, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife whisks the reader back to college. Glory days, unbreakable friendships, all-night parties and a belief that the best in life is ahead of you. But . . . . the unbreakable bonds may be hiding fractured secrets of a group bound not by loyalty but by fear. Twisty and compulsively readable, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife will have you turning pages late into the night, not just to figure out who murdered beloved Heather Shelby, but to see whether friendships forged under fire can ever be resurrected again."
"With its compelling puzzlebox structure and delightfully ruthless cast of characters, this twisty dark academia thriller will have you flipping pages like you’re pulling an all-nighter to cram for a final. In My Dreams I Hold a Knife is required reading for fans of Donna Tartt's The Secret History and Amy Gentry's Bad Habits."
“Fans of The Secret History, Ruth Ware, and Andrea Bartz will devour this dark academic thriller with an addictive locked-room mystery at its core. Ten years after an unsolved campus murder, the victim's best friends reunite, knowing one might be a monster--but is anyone innocent? Over the course of a single shocking night, Ashley Winstead peels back lie after lie, exposing the poisoned roots of ambition, friendship, and belonging itself. An astonishingly sure-footed debut, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is the definition of compulsive reading. The last page will give you nightmares.”
"Winstead does an expert job keeping the reader guessing whodunit. Suspense fans will eagerly await her next."
"An unsolved murder, dark secrets and dysfunctional college days, all wrapped up in a twisty plot that will keep you flipping pages."
ISBN: 9781443465434