LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD 2021 `Anyone wanting smart and compelling crime fiction with razor-sharp social comment should read Eva Dolan. In fact, EVERYONE should read her.` Mark Billingham `A new read from Eva Dolan is always a pleasure and her latest is as dark and gritty as ever ... Dolan puts troubling contemporary themes at the heart of her fiction, creating a compelling mystery about the treatment of vulnerable immigrants in a secretive establishment` Sunday Times As the country bakes under the relentless summer sun, a young doctor is found brutally murdered at his home in a picturesque Cambridgeshire village. Is his death connected to his private life - or his professional one? Dr Joshua Ainsworth worked at an all-female detention centre, one still recovering from a major scandal a few years before. Was he the whistle-blower - or an instigator? As Detective Sergeant Ferreira and Detective Inspector Zigic begin to painstakingly reconstruct Dr Ainsworth`s last days, they uncover yet more secrets and more suspects. But this isn`t the only case that`s demanding their attention - a violent criminal has been released on a technicality and the police force know he will strike again: the only question is who will be his first victim... SHORTLISTED FOR THE CRIME WRITING ASSOCIATION IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER 2020 Praise for Eva Dolan: `Yet again, Eva Dolan has produced a compelling and often dramatic whodunit that tells you more about the state of the nation than a sheaf of newspapers` Sunday Express `Smartly plotted and intriguing` Sunday Mirror `Dolan depicts the breakthroughs and drawbacks of an investigation, the feint and parry of interviews, in engrossing detail and with great skill` The Times `A real state of the nation novel` Barry Forshaw, Financial Times `Dolan infuses old-fashioned police work with contemporary issues to paint a disturbing picture of our times` Daily Mail `Gripping from the first page, [...]