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The brain-teasing new thriller from the 'master of the clever twist'

About the Author

Robert Goddard was born in Hampshire and read History at Cambridge. His first novel, Past Caring, was an instant bestseller. Since then his books have captivated readers worldwide with their edge-of-the-seat pace and their labyrinthine plotting. His first Harry Barnett novel, Into the Blue, was winner of the first WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award and was dramatized for TV, starring John Thaw.

Reviews

"I was hooked by this atmospheric historical mystery"
-Sarah Broadhurst, "Today"

"It has all the ingredients of a first-class melodrama...engaging and satisfying"
-"The Times"

"It explodes into action so that the reader is hooked by the time he reaches the third page...he is a superb storyteller"
-"Sunday Independent"

" I was hooked by this atmospheric historical mystery"
-Sarah Broadhurst, "Today"
" It has all the ingredients of a first-class melodrama...engaging and satisfying"
-"The Times"
" It explodes into action so that the reader is hooked by the time he reaches the third page...he is a superb storyteller"
-"Sunday Independent"

" I was hooked by this atmospheric historical mystery"
-Sarah Broadhurst, "Today"
" It has all the ingredients of a first-class melodrama...engaging and satisfying"
-"The Times"
" It explodes into action so that the reader is hooked by the time he reaches the third page...he is a superb storyteller"
-"Sunday Independent"
"I was hooked by this atmospheric historical mystery"
-Sarah Broadhurst, "Today"

"It has all the ingredients of a first-class melodrama...engaging and satisfying"
-"The Times"

"It explodes into action so that the reader is hooked by the time he reaches the third page...he is a superb storyteller"
-"Sunday Independent"

Is he or isn't he? The year is 1882 and London is buzzing with the news that James Davenall, missing for 11 years, presumed dead, and now calling himself Norton, has come back to wrest the baronetcy and family fortune from his younger brother, Hugo. James also plans to reclaim his beloved Constance, once his fiancee, and now another man's wife. The Davenalls vehemently reject Norton's claims, and so begins a sensational court battle fraught with a myriad familial mysteries and peccadillos going back 40 years. The narrative shifts continually between past and present, and the reader's curiosity heightens as the characters' motivations and the twists in the plot unfold. An unusual, well-written page-turner, highly recommended for most fiction collections. Literary Guild alternate.-- Maria A. Perez-Stable, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo