"Robert Goddard's elegant prose and intelligence...place him in the company of such masters of historical suspense as John Fowles and Daphne du Maurier."
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San Francisco Chronicle "When it comes to duplicity and intrigue, Goddard is second to none. He is the master of manipulation."
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Daily Mail "The suspense mounts to a fine crescendo. A superior example of Goddard's velvet-cloaked menace."
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Kirkus Reviews "Goddard is a master of the sly double and triple cross."
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Seattle Times "Goddard is clever and riveting."
--Stephen King
"Satisfyingly complex... finishes in a rollercoaster of twists."
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Daily Telegraph "Absorbing and intriguing."
-- Evening Standard "One of Britain's finest thriller writers."
--Time Out
On a bright autumn afternoon in Truro, the Napier family celebrates one couple’s golden wedding anniversary and another’s marriage. But for one member of the clan, the day turns dark. Chris Napier, prodigal son, suddenly spots the ragged specter of a former friend, Nicky Lanyon—a man whose own family was ruined by the same twist of fate with which the Napiers were blessed. And the next morning, Chris is horrified to find Nicky dead, hanging from a tree where the boys once played....
For Chris, the suicide opens a floodgate of doubt and suspicion. How did his family’s wealth slip out of the hands of a great-uncle, brutally murdered before he could change his will? Were the men convicted of the crime truly guilty? And who is the mysterious, seductive woman who claims to know the Napiers’ darkest secrets? As the crimes of two families are exposed, a series of violent acts shadows him and suddenly Chris knows he’s in uncharted waters...until a killer drops one last disguise—for the ultimate act of revenge.