Knife River

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN CREASEY FIRST NOVEL DAGGER FOR BEST DEBUT CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2025*



Slow-burn, beautifully written and soaked with atmosphere, Knife River is the debut novel of an exciting new voice in literary crime.



'A delicious smoke curl of a novel' JODI PICOULT

'A twisting, engrossing and beautiful mystery . . . Deeply moving and powerful' CHRIS WHITAKER

First, there were my mother's bones . . .

A young woman returns home to the small, claustrophobic town of Knife River. When Jess was thirteen, her mother went for a walk and did not return - now, fifteen years later, bones have been discovered in the woods nearby.

Jess's sister has remained in their childhood home - her life, their home and the town itself seemingly frozen in time. As days turn into weeks, Jess's understanding of the past, her sister, and herself becomes more and more complicated - and the list of suspects responsible for her mother's terrible fate more and more ominous . . .

'An intelligent literary mystery with a rich sense of place and a clever plot; but it is Champine's keenly-observed depiction of the aftermath of tragedy and the corrosive impact of loss that sets this novel apart'

PAULA HAWKINS



'I couldn't put Knife River down. An incredibly compelling literary mystery. Beautifully written'

OLIVIA KIERNAN



'Both a beguiling mystery and a tender exploration of sisterhood and first love, this beautiful, deep, winding road of a novel pulled me hard into its pages and wouldn't let me go. I was captivated by this debut'

EMMA STYLES



'Atmospheric, sharp, and skilled at twisting the reader's guesses in unimaginable ways'

JODI PICOULT



'An engrossing, powerful debut with a fantastic sense of place'

T.M. LOGAN Justine Champine's short fiction has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Epoch, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and is a founding member of No Tokens Journal. She lives in New York City. Knife River is her debut novel. The captivating, atmospheric slow-burn debut thriller everyone is talking about . . . KNIFE RIVER is already making waves in the US and UK. Fans of Chris Whitaker, Celeste Ng and Jane Harper are sure to fall for Champine's debut too. Beautifully written and soaked with atmosphere, KNIFE RIVER is the debut of an exciting new writer in literary crime. Features a queer protagonist - broadening the representation of LGBTQ+ characters in crime fiction. Knife River is an intelligent literary mystery with a rich sense of place and a clever plot; but it is Champine's keenly-observed depiction of the aftermath of tragedy and the corrosive impact of loss that sets this novel apart Knife River is a delicious smoke curl of a novel: atmospheric, sharp, and skilled at twisting the reader's guesses in unimaginable ways A twisting, engrossing and beautiful mystery. Thrilling, yet also deeply moving, layered and powerful I couldn't put Knife River down. An incredibly compelling literary mystery. Beautifully written An engrossing, powerful debut with a fantastic sense of place. Both a beguiling mystery and a tender exploration of sisterhood and first love, this beautiful, deep, winding road of a novel pulled me hard into its pages and wouldn't let me go. I was captivated by this debut Beautifully written, gripping and poignant, Knife River is a moving debut about love, women and buried secrets Knife River is a gorgeous, magnetic portrait of two sisters whose lives are shattered by the loss of their mother. Part mystery, part investigation into the nature of loss, this novel is both startlingly beautiful and unputdownable. Justine Champine has written a knockout debut A haunting, slow burning novel full of atmosphere and heart. Dealing with the aftermath of a beloved mother's disappearance, this book is full of meditations on loss and grief, anger and fear. Clever and beautifully written, it is a satisfying and moving read. An atmospheric and elegant