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What Will Survive
Absence makes the fear grow stronger...
28 February 1992: Summoned by a dead-of-night telephone call wherein police inform him that his beloved sister Kate is missing, Welsh-born Reed Ivory travels from California to Wales.
Reed's aggressive brother-in-law Lewis insists Kate ran off with the guitarist in her band. Though Reed is certain Kate, who'd finally got up the courage to leave a bad marriage, has come to harm at the hands of her violent, unfaithful husband, Lewis is well-connected, and Reed cannot get the police to act. Not on his own.
An awkward loner, incapable in social situations, Reed knows no one in this foreign country of his birth. Blocked at every turn, how will he get the help he needs? How long will it take to find out what happened to Kate?
This is Book 2 in the Ffrynt Trilogy, but can be read as a standalone. The novel isn't a whodunnit or a whydunnit, but a willtheygetawaywithit.
28 February 1992: Summoned by a dead-of-night telephone call wherein police inform him that his beloved sister Kate is missing, Welsh-born Reed Ivory travels from California to Wales.
Reed's aggressive brother-in-law Lewis insists Kate ran off with the guitarist in her band. Though Reed is certain Kate, who'd finally got up the courage to leave a bad marriage, has come to harm at the hands of her violent, unfaithful husband, Lewis is well-connected, and Reed cannot get the police to act. Not on his own.
An awkward loner, incapable in social situations, Reed knows no one in this foreign country of his birth. Blocked at every turn, how will he get the help he needs? How long will it take to find out what happened to Kate?
This is Book 2 in the Ffrynt Trilogy, but can be read as a standalone. The novel isn't a whodunnit or a whydunnit, but a willtheygetawaywithit.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 23, 2023
About the author
Marni Scofidio
13 books9 followersMarni Scofidio was born in San Francisco, California, and raised near Buffalo, New York. She has been resident in Britain since 1991. Her modern ghost stories have appeared in semi- and professional magazines and anthologies, including BEST NEW HORROR and YEAR'S BEST FANTASY & HORROR, in four countries. She has been nominated for a British Fantasy Society Award for Short Fiction. She holds a BA (Hons) Design, University of Wales. Scofidio is married to her Welshman and Wicked Stepmother to one stepson. KNUCKLEBONES is her first novel.
Of her work Chet Williamson (ROBERT BLOCH’S PSYCHO: SANITORIUM, MURDER IN CORMYR) wrote: ‘Knucklebones is a brilliant debut novel -- written with a poetic eye, filled with characters that truly live, and a pace that had me barrelling through the last half of the book. For decades, Marni Scofidio has written such incredible short stories that I've long wished for a full novel, and Knucklebones is even better than I dared hope. It's dark, chilling, and delicious, written with a unique and individual style. You'd be a knucklehead to miss it. A marvellous book.’
Bram Stoker Award-winning poet, short-story writer and novelist Mark McLaughlin (co-author of THE ABOMINATIONS OF NEPHREN-KA and THE BLASPHEMY IN THE CANOPIC JAR) also wrote: ‘Marni Scofidio is a world-class writer whose stories have appeared in prestigious “Best Of” horror anthologies. If you consider yourself an aficionado of dark fiction, please do not miss the opportunity to read her new novel, KNUCKLEBONES. Her literary works are exquisite macabre treasures to be cherished.’
Of her work Chet Williamson (ROBERT BLOCH’S PSYCHO: SANITORIUM, MURDER IN CORMYR) wrote: ‘Knucklebones is a brilliant debut novel -- written with a poetic eye, filled with characters that truly live, and a pace that had me barrelling through the last half of the book. For decades, Marni Scofidio has written such incredible short stories that I've long wished for a full novel, and Knucklebones is even better than I dared hope. It's dark, chilling, and delicious, written with a unique and individual style. You'd be a knucklehead to miss it. A marvellous book.’
Bram Stoker Award-winning poet, short-story writer and novelist Mark McLaughlin (co-author of THE ABOMINATIONS OF NEPHREN-KA and THE BLASPHEMY IN THE CANOPIC JAR) also wrote: ‘Marni Scofidio is a world-class writer whose stories have appeared in prestigious “Best Of” horror anthologies. If you consider yourself an aficionado of dark fiction, please do not miss the opportunity to read her new novel, KNUCKLEBONES. Her literary works are exquisite macabre treasures to be cherished.’
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 6, 2026
Absorbing and addictive
29th February, 1992, and in California, Reed Ivory gets a phone call from a policewoman in Wales, telling him his beloved sister is missing. He flies out to Britain, only to discover the call was fake and no one's reported his sister's disappearance. Her husband - his repellent brother-in-law, Lewis Hiles - says she left with another man, but Reed knows Kate would never abandon her children. Lewis, well-connected, has the local police in his pocket. But Reed's determined to find his sister...
This isn't a whodunit so much as a 'will-the-b*****d-get-away-with-it'. We know who the malefactor is pretty well from the start, and the story instead is about Reed - already a broken and lonely man - coping with immesuarable loss as he tries to exact a measure of injustice. Don't expect any vigilante hi-jinks here: What Will Survive is all-too-believable in its portrayal of that slow, painful, messy process. But it's hugely readable. Scofidio absolutely rivets the reader with her precise and vivid characterisation, not least in the form of the decidedly unconventional PI Dana Spatafora. Funny, fierce and heartbreaking, this is an absorbing and addictive read.
While the book on Reed, I believe that more cases featuring Dana Spatafora are in the works. I can't wait to read them.
29th February, 1992, and in California, Reed Ivory gets a phone call from a policewoman in Wales, telling him his beloved sister is missing. He flies out to Britain, only to discover the call was fake and no one's reported his sister's disappearance. Her husband - his repellent brother-in-law, Lewis Hiles - says she left with another man, but Reed knows Kate would never abandon her children. Lewis, well-connected, has the local police in his pocket. But Reed's determined to find his sister...
This isn't a whodunit so much as a 'will-the-b*****d-get-away-with-it'. We know who the malefactor is pretty well from the start, and the story instead is about Reed - already a broken and lonely man - coping with immesuarable loss as he tries to exact a measure of injustice. Don't expect any vigilante hi-jinks here: What Will Survive is all-too-believable in its portrayal of that slow, painful, messy process. But it's hugely readable. Scofidio absolutely rivets the reader with her precise and vivid characterisation, not least in the form of the decidedly unconventional PI Dana Spatafora. Funny, fierce and heartbreaking, this is an absorbing and addictive read.
While the book on Reed, I believe that more cases featuring Dana Spatafora are in the works. I can't wait to read them.
Displaying 1 of 1 review