In the late winter of 1979, Leeds housewife Ellen Heenan dies in childbirth - abandoning a guilt-stricken husband to insanity's grasp and leaving four young children to find for themselves.

Thirteen-year-old Matthew and Annie, age twelve, know what the authorities will do if the learn of Father's debilitating madness. A close-knit family will be speedily unravelled, its threads scattered carelessly to the winds. So deception is the only recourse - a facade of normalcy that must be carefully constructed to fool prying neighbourhood eyes. And resourceful young Matthew and his sister have the situation well in hand - until a freshly slain corpse turns up beneath the kitchen window . . .

'Gripping and satisfying' Chicago Tribune

'Subtle and surprising . . . Robert Barnard at his best' San Diego Union-Tribune

'A sad, sweet horror of a story . . . the suspense is delicious.' New York Times Book Review