Book description
Lydia Perceval was - apparently - a charming and gifted woman. As a
successful biographer, she led a privileged and comfortable life in her
well-ordered, luxurious country-cottage. She felt terribly sorry for her
sister, married to an unemployed drunk, mother of two sons, both of whom
had loved their adorable Aunt Lydia much more than their parents. Lydia
had a way with young people, particularly boys. She knew how to bring
out the best in them. As it happened, her sister's two boys had proved
something of a disappointment - Maurice had demeaned himself by going to
work in television, and Gavin, the best, had died a hero in the
Falklands War. Lydia felt a little lost without some young people to
groom into greatness. And then she met the Bellingham boys.
It was like a reply of the past, two bright young boys, one dark, one
fair, just waiting for Lydia to take over their lives. But before she
could do so, Lydia was strangled. The motives were subtle, obscure. And
there were very few clues. But as Superintendent Mike Oddie started his
investigations, he began to suspect that quite a few people hadn't liked
the charming Lydia Perceval at all.
'Barnard's three-card trickster's skill for deception is deftly
demonstrated' Guardian
'Barnard not only creates an array of sharply etched characters whom he
manipulates like a virtuoso puppet-master, he manipulates the reader as
well . . . the solution is a classic' Scotsman
'Witty, guileful, and hairy to the end' John Coleman, Sunday Times
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 2003 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award 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.
