Lyn Yeowart for Better Read Than Dead

Alternating between 1961 and 1973, The Hollow Girl is the stunning new literary suspense novel from the award-winning author of The Silent Listener.

It’s 1973 and Detective Sergeant Eleanor Smith is finally assigned her first homicide case. A woman’s body has been discovered at Harrowford Hall, a home for unmarried mothers deep in the Victorian countryside.

Led by the formidable Mrs Montague, Harrowford has for decades sold itself as a refuge for ‘girls in crisis’ - like fourteen-year-old Jane McEvoy, who has no idea of how she got pregnant. And Marilyn Pollard, a scared, angry teenager desperate to escape.

But when Detective Smith arrives at the once-grand gothic mansion, she finds it all but deserted. What’s more, the home’s overgrown graveyard suggests the apparent poisoning of Nurse Chapman is not Harrowford’s first suspicious death . . .

'An expansive and vivid story that wells up from a dark place in history. A tale of lies and betrayal that will make you angry and keep you up at night. Lyn Yeowart is a writer to be reckoned with and this story grabbed me from the opening scene. You need to read it – now!' HAYLEY SCRIVENOR, internationally bestselling author of Dirt Town and Girl Falling

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Lyn Yeowart is a consulting writer and editor who lives on the traditional lands of the Kulin Nation. Her debut novel, The Silent Listener, won the 2022 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction, was a finalist in the UK People’s Book Prize, and was shortlisted for three other national awards in Australia. The Hollow Girl is her second novel.

Hayley Scrivenor is the author of Dirt Town, which won the ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Mystery and the ABIA for General Fiction Book of the Year. Her second novel, Girl Falling, was released in Australia in August of 2024 and won the 2025 Danger Award in the People’s Choice category. Hayley’s work has been translated into multiple languages. Hayley has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong and lives on Dharawal country, on the east coast of Australia.