Part of Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp
First published 2026
Digby Coombe-Watson has problems. His great-grandfather left him a decaying estate he cannot afford to maintain. His family may not let him sell it. When he starts dating, he throws caution aside. The standard advice says meet strangers in public places, ask plenty of questions, never discuss former relationships. Digby decides these guidelines do not apply to someone like him. He brings a date to his isolated property instead. The decision costs him his life. Someone kills Digby in his crumbling ancestral home. The murder marks only the beginning. More deaths will follow as the killer continues their deadly work. The victims share a connection that runs deeper than bad judgment about dating safety. Each death reveals another piece of a puzzle rooted in family secrets and inherited guilt. The crumbling estate holds answers, but uncovering them requires surviving long enough to piece together a legacy written in blood.
Genres: mystery, crime, horror, adult-fiction, thriller, dark-academia
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, gritty, psychological, suspenseful
Tropes: dark-secrets-revealed, multiple-murders, puzzle-mystery
Setting: ancestral-estate
Period: contemporary
352 pages · Kindle Edition · Faber & Faber
Content warnings: death, murder, violence