The warmth of him, the glorious warmth, was fading by the minute.In a huge old school house by the sea, full of precious paintings, Thomas Porteous is dying. His much younger wife Di holds him and mourns. She knows that soon, despite her being his sole inheritor, Thomas's relatives will descend on the collection that was the passion of both of their lives.And descend they do. The two needy daughters, who were poisoned against their father by their defecting mother, are now poison themselves. With the help of an unlikely collection of loners and eccentrics, Di sets a trap to hoist the family members on their own greed. And on the night they are lured to the house, Di will be ready.Or will she?

This excellent mystery, complete with crimes, clues and red herrings, is also a novel of character and a very good one too - Literary ReviewFyfield specialises in sympathetic portraits of social misfits and the misunderstood . . . This is a subtle but razor-sharp dissection of a family at war - GuardianA novel of character in which fully realised protagonists are developed with a skill approaching that of such writers as Iris Murdoch...Her understanding of the way human beings behave when jealousy and resentment power their actions remains as insightful as ever - IndependentThis humane and beautifully written novel is full of almost sensuous detail not just about art but about living itself. Classic Fyfield, in other words, and highly recommended - SpectatorFrances Fyfield is an original...[she] writes with such persuasive beauty and emotional subtlety - The TimesFrances Fyfield is a veteran crime writer, and it shows here, with her novel well constructed and fittingly suspenseful - Sunday Business Post IrelandAs ever with Fyfield, the liveliness and range of her characters is a key factor - Good Book Guide