Andrew Taylor Books

Marriage is anything but dull for Commander John Coffin, keeper of the peace in London's Second City, especially with the grande dame of the stage, Stella Pinero, in his life. After the opening night of Stella's newly transformed theater, Joe and Josie Macintosh are discovered stabbed to death in their box. A note beside their bodies suggests a suicide pact, but their deaths coincide with the arrival of Inspector Harry Trent, a figure from Coffin's past. Trent is searching for his identical twin brother, a dangerous man who may have already killed and could have threatened the Macintoshes, who fostered the twins as children. As Coffin delves into the case, he realizes that the theater's illusions mean nothing is as it appears, particularly regarding the Macintoshes' supposed suicide. He must uncover not only their killer but also their true identities. The investigation raises unsettling questions about Trent's character and capabilities. The answers lie in a bizarre and terrifying past. Coffin will need Stella's theatrical insights to navigate this complex mystery of dual identities and hidden truths on both sides of the stage.

Het is 1970. De weduwnaar David Byfield, Anglicaans parochiepriester met een donker verleden en een nog donkerder toekomst, keert terug naar Roth met een nieuwe, kersverse echtgenote. De gevaren die Byfield omringen, dringen nauwelijks tot hem door: een theesalonhoudster van middelbare leeftijd die hopeloos verliefd is op haar pastoor, de gefortuneerde nieuwe buren die grote aantrekkingskracht op hem uitoefenen, zijn moeilijke dochter Rosemary (uit zijn eerste huwelijk), die hij nauwelijks in de hand weet te houden, en de sinistere, bijna voelbare aanwezigheid van Francis Youlgreave - negentiende-eeuws dichter en opiumverslaafde - wiens macht over diens graf heen dreigt te reiken.