When I Was Ten

A Gripping, Heart-in-mouth Thriller from the Author of Into the Dark

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When I Was Ten

By: Fiona Cummins

Narrated by: Olivia Dowd

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£5.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST. Cancel monthly.

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When I Was Ten is the stay-up-all-night thriller by acclaimed crime author Fiona Cummins.

‘Grips like a vice’ – Val McDermid, author of the Karen Pirie series

‘Absorbing, tense and beautifully paced’ – Daily Mail

Twenty-one years ago, Dr Richard Carter and his wife Pamela were killed in what has become the most infamous double murder of the modern age.

Their ten year-old daughter – nicknamed the Angel of Death – spent eight years in a children’s secure unit and is living quietly under an assumed name with a family of her own.

Now, on the anniversary of the trial, a documentary team has tracked down her older sister, compelling her to break two decades of silence.

Her explosive interview sparks national headlines and journalist Brinley Booth, a childhood friend of the Carter sisters, is tasked with covering the news story.

For the first time, the three women are forced to confront what really happened that night – with devastating consequences for them all.

‘I finished it with my heart in my mouth. Highly recommended’ – Louise Candlish, author of Our House

‘Dark, creepy and ultimately compassionate’ – JP Delaney, author of The Girl Before

‘Utterly compelling; a true just-one-more-chapter thriller’ – Clare Mackintosh, author of The Last Party

Fiona CumminsOlivia DowdMacmillan

Crime

Crime Thrillers

Domestic Thrillers

Fiction

Mystery

Psychological

Suspense

Thriller

Thriller & Suspense

Women Sleuths

Exciting

Scary

Crime Crime Thrillers Domestic Thrillers Fiction Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Exciting Scary

Critic reviews

Fiona Cummins evokes the dark arts of journalism and politics with an insider’s relish in this rich, intricately woven novel of childhood crime and adult redemption. I finished it with my heart in my mouth. Highly recommended (Louise Candlish on When I Was Ten)

This thriller explores typically dark territory for this author, who has a gift for tapping a rich seam of evil that underpins the surface of the every day. Superbly sinister (Sunday Mirror on The Neighbour)

Absorbing, tense and beautifully paced

She is the master of depicting the way the most terrifyingly grotesque and evil psychopaths inveigle their way into the lives of ordinary people . . . When writing from the perspective of ordinary people caught up in horrific events, Fiona Cummins is unbeatable (Jake Kerridge on The Neighbour)

The Neighbour is masterfully written and intricately plotted to keep the reader captivated until a hugely enjoyable finale (Jon Coates)

A crime novel of the very first order (David Baldacci on The Collector)

Creepy as hell and kept me guessing to the very end (Ian Rankin on The Neighbour)

Trust me – Cummins is a keeper (Lee Child on The Collector)

It’s rare that a debut has this much polish. Harrowing and horrifying, head and shoulders above most of the competition (Val McDermid on Rattle)

Pretty much held my breath for the last twenty pages. It’s sensational (Clare Empson, author of Him and Mine)

Most relevant

Fiona Cummins writes a great story. Really enjoyed that part, no doubt. But the narrator over-pronounced everything and put extra emphasis on her t's. And there seemed to be no change in dialect, accent, emphasis, tone or pitch.