As She Left It

Catriona McPherson’s standalone mystery novel, As She Left It, follows Opal Jones, who returns to her childhood home at 25 after the death of her alcoholic mother who drove her to leave at 12 years old. After her mother's death, Opal returns to the gritty world of Mote Street in her hometown of Leeds, England, to live in her childhood home. But Opal soon discovers that the disappearance of the child Craig, whom Opal used to babysit has changed the neighborhood, and everyone seems to have a secret they aren't willing to reveal. Opal tries to solve the mystery of Craig's disappearance, now a cold case a decade later, and in the meantime is forced to remember and reconcile some of her own childhood traumas.

Opal Jones was not expecting to ever return to Leeds, the city where she was raised by her mother, an alcoholic with a penchant for promiscuity. After too many years of drunken debauchery and violence, Opal left home at twelve and never lived with her mother again. Now, Opal is 25, and her mother is dead. She decides to return to live in her mother's house and finds that Mote Street is both dramatically different and eerily the same as it was 13 years before.

Most of the neighbors on Mote Street are still there, much to Opal's surprise. She lives across the street from the elderly couple Dennis and Margaret, jazz musician and music teacher Fishbo Gordon, and Mrs. Pickess, a nosy woman who is obsessed with cleanliness. There is only one mysterious new addition: Opal's next-door neighbor, a woman who seems to always be crying so loudly, Opal can hear her through the walls.



Opal is happy to see some of her old friends, including the Joshis family, who run a taxi service, but everyone seems to be changed by an unfortunate event that took place only months after Opal left more than a decade ago. Craig, the grandson of Margaret and Dennis, disappeared from the neighborhood and was never found. The police did a thorough investigation of everyone on Mote Street but could not find any clues. After the incident, Karen, Craig's mother, stopped talking to her parents out of the grief and rage of losing her child.

Opal used to babysit baby Craig, and she soon takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of his disappearance. Knowing that her mother was questioned during the original investigation, Opal has a personal stake in the case, along with a natural curiosity and a desire to bring closure to herself and her childhood friends. At the time of Craig's disappearance, Opal's mother was sleeping with Karen's husband—Craig's father.

In her mother's house, Opal finds a strange, hidden message inside the furniture. It is clearly a clue about Craig's disappearance. She begins to track down other messages, which eventually lead her to the home of the wealthy, senile woman Norah Fossett, whose parents left her a large, empty home after their death. Opal begins to search Norah's enormous home, hoping to find clues that will lead her to Craig—but the deeper she looks, the more she is forced to recollect the pain of her childhood and her mother's addiction and neglect.



The author of a number of best-selling mystery and thriller novels, including the Lexy Campell and Danny Gilver series, McPherson has also written many standalone novels. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, she received a PhD in linguistics, and has since worked in academia, fine arts libraries, and very briefly in banking. Now a full-time writer, she has moved to Davis, California, though she frequently returns home to Scotland. She has won a Silver Falchion Award, multiple Anthony Awards, been shortlisted for the Calamari Award for Left Coast Crime, received an Indiefab Gold Medal for mystery, and more. She is best known for her popular cozy mystery series set in 1930s Scotland featuring Danny Gilver.