"If there's ever been a more complex and compelling hero in crime
fiction than Inspector Rutledge, I can't think of one." --Jeffery
Deaver
In one of his most puzzling cases, Scotland Yard Inspector Ian
Rutledge must delve deep into a dead man's life and his past to find a
killer determined to keep dark secrets buried.
A peaceful Welsh village is thrown into turmoil when a terrified boy
stumbles on a body in a nearby river. The man appears to have fallen
from the canal aqueduct spanning the valley. But there is no
identification on the body, he isn't a local, and no one will admit to
having seen him before. With little to go on, the village police turn to
Scotland Yard for help.
When Inspector Ian Rutledge is sent from London to find answers, he is
given few clues--a faded military tattoo on the victim's arm and an
unusual label in the collar of his shirt. They eventually lead him to
the victim's identity: Sam Milford. By all accounts, he was a good man
and well-respected. Then, why is his death so mysterious? Looking for
the truth, Rutledge uncovers a web of lies swirling around a suicidal
woman, a child's tragic fate, and another woman bent on protecting her
past. But where among all the lies is the motive for murder?
To track a killer, Rutledge must retrace Milford's last journey. Yet
death seems to stalk his every move, and the truth seems to shift at
every turn. Man or woman, this murderer stays in the shadows, and it
will take desperate measures to lure him--or her--into the light.
