Book description
David Swain is two years into his life sentence for murdering the lover
of his ex-girlfriend, Katya Osman. In the dead of night, he escapes from
prison. Hours later, Katya is found murdered in her uncle's home,
Blackwater Hall.
Having first brought Swain to justice two years earlier, Inspector
Trave of the Oxford police heads the manhunt. Once Swain is recaptured
and put on trial for his life, a guilty verdict seems guaranteed.
But Trave's investigation has taken an unexpected turn. Katya's uncle
is a rich diamond dealer with a grudge against Trave, and his sinister
brother-in-law has gone to great lengths to create a new identity. Now
convinced that they have arrested the wrong man, and with personal
scores to settle, Trave must risk everything he holds dear to bring his
unlikely target to justice. 'Compulsively readable. Crafted with
cunning and imbued with menace.' - Richmond Times Dispatch
Simon Tolkien has once again written a gripping and nuanced thriller
laced with historical detail, treachery, and his signature writing style
-a uniquely suspenseful blend that the Los Angeles Times called “half
Christie and half Grisham.” Simon Tolkien was a successful Criminal
Justice barrister in London specializing in serious crimes before moving
to California with his wife and two children to take up writing full
time. He has been acclaimed as a naturally gifted storyteller with a
terrific command of language and a unique perception into the darker
sides of human nature. The grandson of J. R.R. Tolkien, with whom he had
a very special relationship, Simon Tolkien's writing is set firmly in
this world.
