July 1910: a gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden.

Buried in the cellar are the remains of Cora Crippen, former music-hall singer and wife of Dr Hawley Crippen.

But Dr Crippen and his mistress Ethel Le Neve have disappeared, and a full-scale hunt for them has begun.

Across the Channel in Antwerp, Captain Kendall gives the order for the SS Montrose to begin its two-week voyage to Canada. On board are 1300 passengers, including the overbearing Antonia Drake, the unassuming Martha Hayes and the enigmatic Mathieu Zela. And, slipping in almost unnoticed, a Mr John Robinson with his seventeen-year-old son Edmund . . .

CRIPPEN is a beautifully drawn novel recreating the true story of the amazing escape attempt of one of history's most notorious killers.