The Man Everyone Likes

About the Book

Thomas Hale has built a life on being agreeable. He's attractive in an effortless way, calm under pressure, and unusually attentive—someone people lean toward at parties and lean on in crises. When someone confides in him, they leave feeling lighter. Thomas leaves with something else: leverage. After a highly public 'accident' shocks the community, two more tragedies follow—different victims, different circumstances, the same clean conclusion: nobody to blame. While social media mourns and moves on, DI Amina Rahman can't ignore the unease that lingers between the facts. The deaths are too neat. The narratives too ready-made. And in the background of every aftermath stands the same reassuring figure: Thomas—present, helpful, and somehow indispensable.