<b><i>Readers of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will love this mesmerising and bone-chilling thriller from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. You'll be hooked from page one!</i></b><br> <br> <b>'As sharp, observant and intelligent as ever' --</b> <b><i>Sunday Express</i></b><br> <b>'A dark, gripping novel permeated with unease and psychological twists . . . Certain to send a shiver down your spine' --</b> <b><i>Today</i></b><br> <b>'I LOVED IT' -- ***** Reader review</b><br> <b>'Keeps you guessing' -- ***** Reader review</b><br> <b>'I couldn't put it down!!' -- ***** Reader review</b><br> <b>'Rendell at her best' -- ***** Reader review</b><br> <b>'Intricate jewel of a puzzle' -- ***** Reader review</b><br> <b>*****************************************************************************************************</b><br> Concealed by a shroud of dirty brown velvet, looking like a heap of rags, <b>the woman's dead body</b> lay between <b>a silver Escort</b> and <b>a dark-blue Lancia</b>.<br> <br> In the desolate shopping centre car park, <b>Wexford</b> has been too preoccupied to notice anything out of the ordinary - only the teenage girl in <b>the red car</b>, driving past him rather too fast. It was <b>Burden</b> who called him at home with the grim news later that evening- <b>the woman had been attacked from behind, perhaps with a thin length of wire.</b><br> <br> But before Wexford can delve any deeper into this curious murder, he, too, faces death... <b>Can Burden solve this mysterious crime without the help of his worldly Chief Inspector?</b>