Dr Megan Banesto has returned to her childhood home of Llancloudy, a former mining village buried deep in the Welsh valleys. In her role as the village's GP, she knows the lives of her patients inside out.
But when the body of Bianca Rhys, a paranoid schizophrenic, is dragged from a murky pool, Megan questions how well she really knew her patient. In her experienc6 Bianca had always been afraid of water - so why had she even gone near the pool? And how had she drowned? Even though the most of the villagers are unsurprised by the death and write it off as an accident, Megan is not so sure.
And Megan's preoccupation with Bianca's death is further complicated by the fact that the investigating officer is an old boyfriend, now happily married, while Megan's own marriage has publicly and humiliatingly collapsed. Worse - PC Alun Williams interprets Megan's continuing interest in the case as no more than a ruse to keep contact between them.
As she discovers more about Bianca's life and death, Megan finds herself increasingly intrigued by some of the bizarre claims that Bianca used to make. What if there was a grain of truth in what she said? What if she was the only one who knew what was really going on in Liancloudy ... ?

' It is always a joy to discover a crime writer with a sure touch and the capacity to shock' Peter Lovesy

A violent spate of robberies have hit the town of Leek, targeting elderly women in their homes. When the latest attack turns to murder, DI Joanna Piercy takes on the investigation ....
The murder victim, a cantankerous old women named Nan Lawrence is found bludgeoned to death over the tapestry she was embroidering. When DI Piercy calls on Nan's neighbours she finds that they are none other than Nan's estranged brother and his teenage grandson who was very close to his great-aunt.
Is this murder linked to the other attacks in the area? If not, then who murdered Nan, and why?
Aided by her colleague, Mike Korpanski, Joanna gradually unravels a mystery that is rooted in the past ....