Frances Jellico is dying. A man who calls himself the vicar visits, hoping to extract a deathbed confession. He wants to know what really happened that fateful summer of 1969, when Frances – tasked with surveying a dilapidated country house – first set eyes on the glamorous bohemian couple, Cara and Peter.

She recalls the relationship they forged through sweltering days, lavish dinners and elaborate lies, and the Judas hole through which she would spy on the couple. Were the signs there right from the beginning? Or was it impossible to avoid the crime that split their lives open like rotten fruit?

‘Compulsive … A latter-day Daphne du Maurier’ THE TIMES

‘Clever, compelling … A rewarding slow burn’ PAULA HAWKINS

‘Bewitching, otherworldly … full of dark foreboding. Claire Fuller is a dazzling storyteller’ SCOTSMAN

‘Sinister and suspenseful, this gothic novel simmers with guilt, lust and envy’ MAIL ON SUNDAY

‘A darkly smouldering, superior psychological thriller’ DAILY MAIL