Lake District Mysteries

Death has come twice to Ravenbank, a remote community in England's Lake District, each time on Halloween. Just before the First World War, a young woman's corpse was found, with a makeshift shroud frozen to her battered face. Her ghost-the Faceless Woman-is said to walk through Ravenbank on Halloween. Five years ago, another woman, Shenagh Moss, was murdered, and again her face was covered to hide her injuries. Daniel Kind, a specialist in the history of murder, becomes fascinated by the old cases and wonders whether the obvious suspects really did commit the crimes. He spends Halloween at a party in Ravenbank-only to find death returning to this beautiful but isolated spot. Once more, the victim is a woman; once more her damaged face is shrouded from view.

Heavily pregnant yet still running her flower shop in Keswick, Simmy Brown agrees to deliver an unusual bouquet to remote Eskdale. There she encounters three generations of women - and the next day, one of them is brutally murdered. Drawn into the mystery, Simmy and her friends soon find themselves navigating eccentric artists, fractured families, and secrets buried deep in the Lakes. As her new assistant Evie proves unexpectedly determined to sleuth, and tangled motives begin to surface, Simmy realises the truth is darker - and closer - than anyone imagined. And time is running out, in more ways than one. 'As Rebecca Tope tells it, every rural idyll is blighted by underlying menace. Such is her writing skill, I'm inclined to believe her' Daily Mail