‘Comparisons with Elizabeth George are inevitable . . . Crombie’s emotionally intense, quietly yet exquisitely wrought gems have taken on a new brilliance with each offering’ The Times

Detective Inspector Gemma James and her family are back in their Notting Hill house and enjoying a quiet spring in London when Gemma receives a plea for help from her friend and neighbour, Erika Rosenthal.

Erika has never shared much of her past, other than telling Gemma that she and her husband came to London before the war as refugees from Nazi Germany. Her long-dead husband was a historian and was found murdered. His murder was never solved. But now the elderly woman needs Gemma’s help.

Gemma has a tough challenge. It’s a cold case and one that she has neither the time nor the resources to investigate. But then a tragic death places the investigation firmly in the present – and into the hands of her partner Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid. Determined to exact justice both Gemma and Duncan hunt down a chilling killer in a case that will have lasting repercussions for everyone involved . . .