In the eighth of the successful Simon Serrailler series, the Chief Superintendent is faced with worse crimes than ever, and the town of Lafferton is left reeling Susan Hill―the Man Booker Prize nominee and winner of the Whitbread, Somerset Maugham, and John Llewellyn Rhys awards―returns with a gripping new novel, the latest chapter in one of the most acclaimed mystery series of our time. From the outside, the cathedral town of Lafferton seems idyllic, but in many ways it is just like any other place. It suffers from the same kinds of crime, is subject to the same pressures from a rapidly changing world, and has the same hopes and fears as any number of towns up and down the land. When Simon Serrailler is called in by Lafferton’s new Chief Constable, Kieran Bright, he is met by two plainclothes officers, who ask him to take the principal role in a difficult, potentially dangerous undercover operation.
