Synopsis: When Flight 189 plunges into the Severn Estuary, Coroner Jenny Cooper finds herself handling the case of a lone sailor whose boat appears to have been sunk by the stricken plane, and drawn into the mysterious fate of a ten year-old girl, Amy Patterson, a passenger on 189, whose largely unmarked body is washed up alongside his.

While a massive and highly secretive operation is launched to recover clues from the wreckage, Jenny begins to ask questions the official investigation doesn’t want answered. How could such a high tech plane – virtually impregnable against human error – fail? What linked the high powered passengers who found themselves on this ill-fated flight? And how did Amy Patterson survive the crash, only to perish hours later? Under pressure from Amy’s grieving mother, and opposed by those at the very highest levels of government, Jenny must race against time to seek the truth behind this terrible disaster, before it can happen again.

The Judges said: “Coroner Jenny Cooper attempts to tackle the fall-out after air disaster in Severn estuary. Good balance of the domestic and the professional together with high-tech detail make this an absolutely fascinating and chillingly plausible read.”

M.R. Hall is a screenwriter and producer and former criminal barrister. Educated at Hereford Cathedral School and Worcester College, Oxford, he lives in the Wye Valley in Monmouthshire with his wife and two sons. Also available in the Coroner Jenny Cooper series: The Coroner, The Disappeared, The Redeemed.