First published 2004
Patrick O'Riordan sits in custody, charged with killing elderly Lavinia Fanshaw and her nurse Dorothy Jenkins in the Hampshire village of Sowerbridge. The community erupts in anger against his family. His parents and cousin report threats and violence from neighbors. Only Siobhan Lavenham believes Patrick is innocent. She defends the O'Riordans against the hostile village, risking her own standing in the prejudiced community. Days before trial, Siobhan learns disturbing secrets about the family's past. She begins to doubt everything. Could Patrick actually be a killer? Are his parents lying about the attacks against them? What other deceptions hide beneath the surface? As truth emerges, Sowerbridge faces a different kind of danger. Someone with deadly ambition moves among them, and their careful disguise is about to slip.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Hampshire, Sowerbridge
Period: contemporary
Hardcover · Macmillan Publishers Limited
Content warnings: violence