“Lucid prose, well-focused plot, and all the trappings of a cosy British mystery” from the New York Times–bestselling author of All Shall Be Well (Library Journal).
When Connor Swann, the dissolute son-in-law of renowned and influential Sir Gerald and Dame Caroline Asherton, is found floating in a Thames River lock, the circumstances eerily recall a strangely similar tragedy.
Twenty years ago, the Ashertons’ young son, Matthew, a musical prodigy, drowned in a swollen stream while in the company of his sister Julia—Connor Swann’s wife.
Police Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James quickly discover that Connor’s death was no accident, and that nothing in the Asherton family is as it seems. Connor, though estranged from Julia for more than a year, still lives in her London apartment, where his exploits with women and gambling suggest plenty of motives. The Ashertons are far more attached to Connor than to their own daughter, and these are only the first of the secrets that haunt the suspects. New lies cover older lies, as Kincaid finds himself dangerously drawn to Julia Swann, and Gemma must confront her own troubling feelings for Kincaid.
“Detail and pacing are immaculate as the investigation is drawn closer and closer toward domestic secrets as the source of the solution to the crime. A superbly engrossing whodunit for all active mystery collections.” —Booklist
“The passages of the first drowning are haunting, the mystery is intriguing, the characters are well developed and the solution satisfies.” —Publishers Weekly
Deborah Crombie is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery series set in the UK. Crombie was raised in Texas and has lived in the United Kingdom. She currently lives in McKinney, Texas. Crombie's novels are published in North America, Japan, Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Romania, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and numerous other countries.