This was an unexpected installment in one of my favorite mystery series. It is quite different from the first 10 in that we get very little story centered around the protagonists Lynley and Havers. Instead, the reader is wrapped up in the lives Gideon Davies and his family and friends. There are 2 timelines in the novel as well, although this isn't apparent until close to the end (hence the spoiler tag, although I don't know how much it would have changed my reading of the novel).

The novel has all of the wonderful things I love about George: descriptive and emotional writing that makes me feel as if I'm right there with the characters, a suspense that starts off strong and still continues to grow until the denouement, and a story that is believable. Still, I did miss catching up on Lynley and Havers themselves, and I also think this book was too long. Maybe that's because much of it is about the Davies family.