Book description
Upstairs, in the room looking out to sea, the old man dictates wills,
leaving things he no longer has to friends who are long dead. His
children, who look after him, can cope with his senility, and thought
there was nothing more to learn about his erratic life-style. When
Roderick Cotterel hears from his illegitimate half-sister he is
intrigued, even charmed: she is the daughter of his father, the
distinguished novelist Benedict Cotterel, by the famous actress Myra
Mason. She is writing a book about her mother, and is looking for
material. The affair between the two had been a gutter press sensation
back in the 'sixties, but the embers have long since cooled. However,
when Cordelia and her boyfriend arrive and begin research for the book
both Roderick and his wife begin to have doubts. And when their peaceful
Sussex village is threatened by a visit from an almost suspiciously
friendly Myra Mason, they realize they have got into something from
which it would require superhuman delicacy and tact to extricate
themselves. In the event somebody solves their problems in a way that is
neither tactful nor delicate, though it certainly is final. 'He never
takes the easy path of repeating a winning formula.' Time Magazine
Robert Barnard is a well-established crime writer. He has won the
prestigious Nero Wolfe Award as well as the Anthony, Agatha and Macavity
Awards, has been nominated eight times for the Edgar Award and was the
winner of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award in 2003 for a lifetime of
achievement. He has also written crime novels under the pseudonym of
Bernard Bastable. He lives with his wife in Leeds and has had over 45
titles published in the UK and US.
