From international bestselling master of suspense Nicci French comes a race-against-time in which whip-smart female detective Maud O’Connor has one week to unravel a murder case police concluded prematurely—and expose the secrets buried in a quiet village.
Some secrets won’t stay locked away.
Amy Barton is a devoted young mother from the quiet village of Brookstead. Outside of working at a local homeware store, her days are consumed by baths, bedtime stories, and cooking supper. Until an affair with a controlling older man leaves her riddled with guilt. Now all she craves is a return to normalcy and vows to be content in her domestic life.
But nothing is ever that easy.
When Amy is found murdered in her home, the news shatters Brookstead’s idyllic façade, leaving behind a grieving family and a trail of unanswered questions. Was it a burglary gone wrong, or does the truth lie closer to home?
The officers in charge are quick to determine that Amy was murdered by her jealous husband who attempted to stage a break-in. But when a journalist comments on the unease of women in Brookstead and questions the fact that there are no female officers on the case, Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor from the Metropolitan Police Force is tapped to step in. Maud is expected to glance over their files, make a stirring speech about concern for female victims, and accept their conclusion.
But if their verdict is so airtight, why did three other women in the area die under less than transparent circumstances not long before?
Maud has only a week to uncover the truth before the local Chief Inspector orders her off the case and back to London in this gripping page-turner of betrayals and buried secrets.