First published 2010
Three months after losing his lover in a car crash, Detective Superintendent Richard Jury carries his grief and guilt like stones. When he gets called to investigate a murder outside his usual territory, he knows something feels wrong. A young woman lies dead behind a village pub. The only witness is the pub's black cat, who offers no help identifying either victim or killer. The case grows stranger when locals recognize the dead woman as two different people. Some know her as the quiet village librarian. Others swear she worked as an upscale escort in the city. Jury must figure out how one woman lived these double lives and whether her death connects to other escort murders. His old enemy Harry Johnson keeps pushing Jury toward increasingly risky choices. Johnson travels with an unflappable dog named Mungo, and both may hold the answers Jury needs. As the investigation deepens, Jury relies on his sharp mind and instincts to solve a puzzle that challenges everything he thinks he knows. The brilliant detective must confront not only a clever killer but also his own wounded heart.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, wounded-hero
Setting: Village Pub
336 pages · Hardcover · Viking Adult
Content warnings: death