Speculative — creative possibilities, not findings. Always verify against the manuscript.
Opportunities
The divergent engine — what this manuscript could become. These are an agent's creative reads, offered to support your judgement, never to replace it.
The sister faked her death
The unexplained letters in ch.7 and the ambiguous body identification in ch.1 already quietly support this. Leaning in would also resolve the unmet “no accident” promise the hook makes.
Connect Mrs Pyke and Detective Hollis
They never share a scene. Bringing them together would pay off the orphan-character thread and tighten the village's web of who-knew-what.
Move the glasshouse discovery earlier
Shifting the central discovery from ch.5 to ch.2 would inject incident into the slow open and fix the act-one momentum sag flagged in pacing.
Comparable authors & imprint fit
Sits comfortably alongside Kate Morton, Jane Harper and Sarah Waters — atmospheric literary suspense with a strong sense of place. A good fit for an imprint that publishes elevated book-club thrillers.