Highly Commended Cheshire Novel Prize 2022 - Almost Strangers

By Farrah Yusuf

Cozy Crime

Until she disappeared only a few of Iman Haq’s neighbours had known her name. Now, along with most of the world, they all know every juicy detail about her.

Not that Iman is shy. For three years prior to her disappearance, she has curated snapshots of her life on Instagram. Beginning with a photograph of the moment, re-enacted for the lens, that her boyfriend became her fiancé and ending, or so it seems, with one of fireworks in the park behind their home in a leafy part of north London. That tangerine explosion against an inky sky is perceived by some as a poignant farewell and by others as a mere coincidence. In between those two, there are thousands of posts cataloguing happy, chaotic or comical aspects of her days. A highlights reel for a continuous movie that has gained the make-up artist and new mum nearly 400,000 followers and partnerships with various brands. It is her undeniable charm and the sense of community that she creates through her frequent and seemingly frank posts that cultivates loyalty in her followers and jealousy in her trolls.

Now, strangers pour over every snippet of news and old Instagram posts of her idyllic life like amateur detectives looking for hidden clues to over-analyse. Photographs of her posing in Eid outfits, beaming on her wedding day, close ups of her hugging her baby and even the way she decorated her home for Halloween just last week, flood news feeds. Her dimpled smile becoming familiar even to those who had never heard of her till now.

Theories swirl about exactly how, why and when she disappeared, without a trace, leaving her baby home alone. They are discussed online, debated in group chats, and mulled over in office kitchens. Differing possibilities bubbling and bursting by the hour.

Everyone has an opinion but her nosey neighbour, Sujata Patel, will be the first to uncover the truth.