* * * * *

It always starts with a small lie. That's how you stop noticing the bigger ones.

After his friend suspects something strange going on at the launch facility where they both work - and then goes missing - Martin Hepton doesn't believe the official line of "long-term sick leave"...

Refusing to stop asking questions, he leaves his old life behind, aware that someone is shadowing his every move.

The only hope he has is his ex-girlfriend Jill Watson - the only journalist who will believe his story.

But neither of them can believe the puzzle they're piecing together - or just how shocking the secret is that everybody wants to stay hidden...

A gripping, page-turning suspense masterclass - available in print for the first time in nearly thirty years.

* * * * *

'Rankin is a master storyteller'
Guardian

'Great fiction, full stop'
The Times

'Ian Rankin is a genius'
Lee Child

'One of Britain's leading novelists in any genre'
New Statesman

'A virtuoso of the craft'
Daily Mail

'Rankin is a phenomenon'
Spectator

'Britain's No.1 crime writer'
Mirror

'Quite simply, crime writing of the highest order'
Express

'Worthy of Agatha Christie at her best'
Scotsman