'Martin Edwards is a true master of British crime writing.' RICHARD OSMAN

The first rule of know your victim.

Basil Palmer has decided to murder a man called Louis Carson. There's only one he doesn't know anything about his intended victim, not who he is or where he lives.

Basil learns that Carson owns Hemlock Bay, a resort for the wealthy and privileged. Knowing that his plan will only work if he covers his tracks, he invents a false identity and, posing as Dr Seamus Doyle, journeys to the coast plotting murder along the way.

Meanwhile Rachel Savernake buys an intriguing painting of a place called Hemlock Bay, one that she cannot get out of her head. Macabre and strange, the image shows a shape that seems to represent a dead body lying on the beach.

Convinced that there is something sinister lurking amongst the glamour of the bay, Rachel books a cottage there – where she meets a mysterious doctor called Seamus Doyle…

Praise for Martin Edwards

'Highly recommended, with a touch of the gothic.' ANN CLEEVES
'Martin Edwards celebrates and satirises the genre with wit and affection... He leaves you wanting more.' THE TIMES
'The brilliant Savernake is a fascinatingly enigmatic character.' WASHINGTON POST
'Martin Edwards holds his own with the best of classic crime.' DAILY MAIL
'Reads as if Ruth Rendell were channelling Edgar Wallace.' MICK HERRON