Part of Death on Demand, book 8
First published 1992
Annie and Max Darling travel south to investigate a disappearance that has stumped local authorities. The case leads them to the Tarrant family, whose old money status and guarded behavior suggest they harbor dangerous secrets. As the couple digs deeper, they uncover evidence pointing to a decades-old killing that someone desperately wants to keep buried. The Tarrants' aristocratic facade begins to crack under scrutiny, revealing a web of lies that has protected them for forty years. Annie and Max must navigate the family's attempts to obstruct their investigation while piecing together the truth about both the recent vanishing and the long-ago murder. The deeper they probe, the more they realize how far the Tarrants will go to preserve their reputation and freedom.
Genres: suspense, mystery, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, family-drama
Setting: South, Tarrant Family Estate
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
323 pages · Hardcover · Bantam