Part of Inspector Lynley, book 4
First published 2007
Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley brings his fiancée home to Howenstow, his ancestral estate in Cornwall, expecting a peaceful introduction to family life. The eighth earl of Asherton wants to share his heritage with the woman he plans to marry. Then a local journalist turns up dead, brutally killed in their picturesque village. The murder shatters the calm Lynley hoped to provide his bride-to-be. A second death follows quickly, and Lynley cannot stay away from the investigation even though it falls outside his official jurisdiction. His friend Simon Allcourt-St. James, a forensic scientist, joins the case alongside Lady Helen Clyde. The evidence leads them closer and closer to Lynley's own family circle. What began as a homecoming becomes a nightmare as Lynley realizes the killer may be someone he loves and trusts.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cornwall, Howenstow
Period: World War II
449 pages · Paperback · Bantam
Content warnings: death, murder, violence