Finalist for The Ngaio Marsh Best Crime Novel 2023
Shortlisted for the NZ Booklovers Award for Best Adult Fiction
‘Intriguing, intelligent, and entertaining… I loved it’ Liz Nugent

Nothing in Stan Andino’s unremarkable life could prepare him for the day he discovers his wife naked, except for a black apron, bleaching out a stain from the carpet that only she can see. A CT scan one week later explains the seemingly inexplicable; Carmen Andino has a brain tumour.

As Stan and their teenage sons grapple with the diagnosis and frightening personality changes in their wife and mother, Austin Lamb, a close friend and local doctor, does everything possible to assist the family in crisis.

Months later, Austin’s wife’s body is discovered at the bottom of Browns Bay cliffs by Eliot Bard.

But who is lying, and who is telling the truth?

‘Insists that you keep reading into the small hours’ Paddy Richardson
‘Peppered with twists and turns’ Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
‘A masterful anatomy of a friendship shattered by illness and violent death’ Liam McIlvanney
‘Propels you along on a roller-coaster ride’ Vanda Symon
‘A compelling and deliciously unsettling read’ North and South
‘A masterful thriller’ Style Magazine

Fiona Sussman