A family's skeletons emerge on a 1950s seaside summer holiday in this classic mystery from 'Britain's Patricia Highsmith' and the 'grandmother of psycho-domestic noir' (Sunday Times)

'Laughter turns to terror in this beautifully contrived plot by an unjustly overlooked mystery writer .. Makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up .. Take it on holiday with you.' Times

'A slow-burning chill of a read by a master of suspense.' Janice Hallett

The holidays have begun. In a seaside caravan resort, Isabel and her sister Meg build sandcastles with the children, navigate deckchair politics, explore the pier's delights, gorge ice cream in the sun. But their half-sister Mildred has returned to a nearby coastal cottage where her husband - the mysterious Uncle Paul - was arrested for his first wife's attempted murder: and family skeletons emerge.

Now, on his release from prison, is he returning for revenge, seeking who betrayed him? Or are all three women letting their nerves get the better of them? Though who really is Meg's new lover? And whose are those footsteps ...?

'Sinister, witty and utterly compelling. A genius.' Nicola Upson