Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder
'Cleverly told ... brilliant character work and plotting up to the
usual Symons standard.' --Observer
'An intriguing puzzle centered on identity...' --Publishers Weekly
Lady Wainwright presides over the gothic gloom at Belting, in mourning
for her two sons lost in the Second World War. Long afterwards a
stranger arrives at Belting, claiming to be the missing David
Wainwright--who was not killed after all, but held captive for years in
a Russian prison camp. With Lady Wainwright's health fading, her
inheritance is at stake, and the family is torn apart by doubts over its
mysterious long-lost son. Belting is shadowed by suspicion and
intrigue--and then the first body is found.
This atmospheric novel of family secrets, first published in 1964, is
by a winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger.