Shortlisted for the Macavity Mystery Readers

International Best Novel Award 8010

Once the haunt of Jack the Ripper, London's East End is a vibrant mix of history and new ideas. Races and cultures still clash, and the trendy galleries and glitzy nightlife of Brick Lane disguise a violent and seedy underside, where unthinkable crimes bring terror to the innocent.

Artist and young mother, Sandra Gilles, disappears without trace after leaving her three-year-old daughter, Charlotte, with a friend at the Columbia Road Flower Market. Her lawyer husband, Naz Malik, is devastated - but he's also the prime suspect.

When Naz vanishes shortly afterwards, Gemma James and her partner Superintendent Duncan Kincaid agree to work together again to solve the case before the murderer can get his hands on the real prize, Charlotte.

But just as the case grows more dangerous, a personal issue threatens to throw Gemma and Duncan off the trail. In the end, it is up to them to stop a vicious killer and protect the child whose fate hangs in the balance.

Praise for Deborah Crombie

'Utterly compelling' PETER ROBINSON

'Crombie's emotionally intense yet exquisitely wrought gems have taken on a new britliance with each offering*