'She's brilliant' Guardian


The suicide of William Goldacre is devastating to those left behind.But what was the cause of his tragedy and how far might the consequences reach?Is there a link between the young man's leap from a Dorset cliff and an horrific poisoning in Cambridge?

Following various career-threatening misdemeanours, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers is desperate to redeem herself.So when a past encounter with bestselling feminist writer Clare Abbott and her pushy personal assistant Caroline Goldacre gives her a connection to the Cambridge murder, Barbara begs DI Thomas Lynley to let her pursue the crime.

Soon, Lynley finds himself investigating the London end of an ever more darkly disturbing case, while Havers and DS Winston Nkata look behind the peaceful façade of country life to discover a twisted world of desire and deceit - and no shortage of suspects.

'The connoisseur's crime writer' Sunday Express