Inhalt
In the past . . .
On a blistering August afternoon in Crystal Palace, a solitary thirteen-year-old boy meets his next door neighbor, a recently widowed teacher hoping to make a new start. Drawn together by loneliness, the unlikely pair form a connection that ends in a shattering act of betrayal.
In the present . . .
On a cold January morning in London, Detective Inspector Gemma James is back on the job now that her husband, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, is at home to care for their three-year-old foster daughter. Assigned to lead a Murder Investigation Team, her first case is a crime scene at a seedy hotel in Crystal Palace. A well-respected barrister is found naked, trussed, and apparently strangled. Is it an unsavory accident or murder? Their search leads them into unexpected corners and forces them to contemplate unsettling truths about the weaknesses and passions that lead to murder. Ultimately, they will begin to question everything they think they know about their world and those they trust most.