Expectant

Contents PRAISE TITLE PAGE DEDICATION CONTENTS PROLOGUE CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 CHAPTER 14 CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 17 CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 21 CHAPTER 22 CHAPTER 23 CHAPTER 24 CHAPTER 25 CHAPTER 26 CHAPTER 27 CHAPTER 28 CHAPTER 29 CHAPTER 30 CHAPTER 31 CHAPTER 32 CHAPTER 33 CHAPTER 34 CHAPTER 35 CHAPTER 36 CHAPTER 37 CHAPTER 38 CHAPTER 39 CHAPTER 40 CHAPTER 41 CHAPTER 42 CHAPTER 43 CHAPTER 44 CHAPTER 45 CHAPTER 46 CHAPTER 47 CHAPTER 48 CHAPTER 49 CHAPTER 50 CHAPTER 51 CHAPTER 52 CHAPTER 53 CHAPTER 54 CHAPTER 55 CHAPTER 56 CHAPTER 57 CHAPTER 58 CHAPTER 59 CHAPTER 60 CHAPTER 61 CHAPTER 62 CHAPTER 63 CHAPTER 64 CHAPTER 65 EPILOGUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR COPYRIGHT Also by Vanda Symon, and available from Orenda Books: 
 
 
 
 PRAISE FOR EXPECTANT
 ‘From the opening pages, this story left me gasping for breath’ Michael Robotham
 ‘New Zealand’s modern Queen of Crime’ Val McDermid
 ‘Chillingly intense with a finely honed sense of place … Vanda Symon knows Dunedin and brings it vibrantly to life in this fast-paced thriller’ Craig Robertson
 ‘An excellent thriller, definitely one of the best of this year. Vanda Symon is a master of characterisation, plot and dialogue, and with every book, she exceeds expectations. I loved every moment’ Liz Nugent
 ‘From the ominous and shocking beginning to the heart-pounding ending, Expectant had me in its grasp … It was great to be back in Sam’s world again … an every-woman, witty, clever, hilarious, vulnerable and so extremely relatable … I’m fully invested in her’ Nikki Crutchley
 ‘I love this series. Sam Shephard is such a wonderful character, full of determination and bravado, down to earth and as witty as you could ask for … Emotional, tense, dramatic and just bloody good fun to read’ Jen Med’s Book Reviews
 ‘Full of tension, twists and great characters. A shocking crime shakes the community, but is this a one-off? Happy to recommend all Vanda’s books to crime-thriller fans’ Independent Book Reviews
 PRAISE FOR VANDA SYMON
 ‘Fast-moving New Zealand procedural … the Edinburgh of the south has never been more deadly’ Ian Rankin
 ‘A sassy heroine, fabulous sense of place, and rip-roaring stories with a twist. Perfect curl-up-on-the-sofa reading’ Kate Mosse
 ‘If you like taut, pacy thrillers with a wonderful sense of place, this is the book for you’ Liam McIlvanney
 ‘All the thrills of a brilliantly plotted crime novel with some interesting moral questions woven between the words. Fast, furious and intense’ Helen Fields
 ‘Edgy, thrilling and terrifyingly realistic’ Lisa Hall
 ‘New Zealand’s answer to Siobhan Clarke’ The Times 
 ‘It is Symon’s copper Sam, self-deprecating and very human, who represents the writer’s real achievement’ Guardian
 ‘An absolute must-have’ Daily Express
 ‘Vanda Symon’s work resembles Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. She knows how to tell a good story and the NZ setting adds spice’ The Times Crime Club
 ‘Grabs the reader’s attention with a heart-stopping opening and doesn’t let go’ Sunday Times 
 ‘A deeply involving novel and a damn 
 
 
 
 Expectant
 
 Vanda Symon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 To all of the loved ones lost 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CONTENTS
 
 
 
 TITLE PAGE
 DEDICATION
 PROLOGUE 
 CHAPTER 1 
 CHAPTER 2 
 CHAPTER 3 
 CHAPTER 4 
 CHAPTER 5 
 CHAPTER 6 
 CHAPTER 7 
 CHAPTER 8 
 CHAPTER 9 
 CHAPTER 10 
 CHAPTER 11 
 CHAPTER 12 
 CHAPTER 13 
 CHAPTER 14 
 CHAPTER 15 
 CHAPTER 16 
 CHAPTER 17 
 CHAPTER 18 
 CHAPTER 19 
 CHAPTER 20 
 CHAPTER 21 
 CHAPTER 22 
 CHAPTER 23 
 CHAPTER 24 
 CHAPTER 25 
 CHAPTER 26 
 CHAPTER 27 
 CHAPTER 28 
 CHAPTER 29 
 CHAPTER 30 
 CHAPTER 31 
 CHAPTER 32 
 CHAPTER 33 
 CHAPTER 34 
 CHAPTER 35 
 CHAPTER 36 
 CHAPTER 
 
 
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 
 The group swaggered their way down Moray Place, voices loud, giving each other light-hearted grief. They were like any group of teenagers – full of themselves, finding their own fun, out a bit too late on a school night. They came around the bend, heading downhill towards George Street, but as if on cue, they took a left and ducked down the red-brick Victorian alleyway. The swagger dropped, hoodies were pulled up, and the banter pitch dropped to a soft murmur. The low lighting barely threw shadows as they descended the darkened, tunnel-like passage. One of them stopped as he entered, running a hand across the mural, tracing the line of a spindly