"Crafted with cunning and imbued with menace . . . adds luster to Tolkien's growing reputation as a brilliant star in the thriller firmament." — Richmond Times Dispatch

One of Kirkus Reviews 's Best Mysteries of the Year

It's 1960, and David Swain is two years into his life sentence for murdering the lover of his ex-girlfriend, Katya Osman. In the dead of night, David escapes from prison, and that same night Katya is found murdered in her uncle's home, Blackwater Hall.

Inspector Trave of the Oxford Police, last seen in The Inheritance, heads the manhunt for David, whom he first brought to justice two years earlier. But Trave's suspicions lead him to Katya's uncle Titus Osman, a rich diamond dealer, and his sinister brother-in-law, who has gone to great lengths to hide his former ties with the Nazis.

However, Trave's motives are suspect—Osman is having an affair with Trave's estranged wife, and a newcomer to the Oxford Police is eager to exploit Trave's weaknesses to further his own ambition. Caught up in his superiors' rivalry, Trave's young assistant finds himself uncertain who is right and which side to choose.

Once David is captured and put on trial for his life, Trave is willing to risk everything that is dear to him—professionally and personally—to pursue his obsessive belief in Osman's guilt.

"Tolkien's writing has a timeless quality [and] the haunting undertones of other great masters of mystery." — USA Today

"A thick web of family tensions and psychological dysfunction with a whodunit chaser . . . elegantly written, with Masterpiece Theatre pacing and embellishments." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)