Part of Inspector Lynley, book 9
First published 1998
Sergeant Barbara Havers faces her biggest challenge yet when Haytham Querashi turns up dead on the beach at Balford-le-Nez. The Pakistani man's broken neck sends shockwaves through the small Essex seaside town, where tensions between longtime residents and the growing Asian community run deep. Without Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley at her side, Havers must navigate the investigation solo. She digs into Querashi's life while the town threatens to explode around her. The case hits close to home for Havers, forcing her to confront not just a killer's twisted logic but the lies people tell themselves and others. In this decaying coastal community, everyone seems to be hiding something. Havers discovers that the deadliest deceptions are often the ones we practice on ourselves.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Balford-le-Nez, Essex
Period: contemporary
716 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Bantam Books
Content warnings: death, violence