Sister Agnes is facing a crisis of faith.

Working in a hostel for the homeless, Sam, a sixteen-year-old runaway, is forced to return to her family and then goes missing, and Agnes begins to question her relationship with God.

Furious with the authorities, she feels she must do what she can to pull the runaway girl back from the brink of self-destruction.

She sets out on a mission to find Sam and finds herself with a group of anti-road protesters in their tree-top encampment at the edge of Epping Forest.

Amidst the beggars, travellers and anarchists, Sam is revelling in their fireside talk of apocalypse.

But she is also contemplating returning to live with the father who deserted her sixteen years earlier and who, suspiciously to Agnes’s mind, has suddenly re-appeared.

For the moment however Sam seems secure at the camp, a magic fortress in the sky, though its tents and tree houses can only provide a temporary bulwark against destruction.

But even that safety is illusory. Only hours after Agnes’s arrival a body is found. Of a brutally murdered young girl…

‘The Quick and the Dead’ is a gripping crime thriller featuring inventive and original heroine Sister Agnes.

‘Enjoyable … with a satisfyingly believable conclusion’ Glasgow Herald

‘Nice one that doesn’t start with a bang and end with a whimper’ Newcastle-upon-Tyne Journal

‘A refreshingly different character’ Bolton Evening News

‘One helluva nun’ Hampstead and Highgate Express

Alison Joseph was born in North London and educated at Leeds University. After graduating she worked as a presenter on a local radio station then, moving back to London, for Channel 4. She later became a partner in an independent production company and one of its commissions was a series about women and religion, the book of which was published by SPCK. She has since also worked as a reader for BBC Radio Drama. Alison, who has three children, now lives in London and is currently working on a new crime novel.

Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.