It's May 1935, and while the rest of Birmingham is decked in red, white and blue for the silver jubilee, the detective agency in Needless Alley remains unpatriotically down-at-heel.

Into the office walks respectable spinster, Myfanwy Davies. She is dying, has cash to spare, and her last wish is to be reconciled with her estranged little sister. Miss Davies believes detectives William Garrett and Phyll Hall can help.

With the bailiffs at their door, William and Phyll are relieved to take on what appears to be a straightforward and lucrative case. However, their search for the missing woman leads to a complex web of murder and intrigue, as they journey through the glamorous world of Britain's burgeoning film industry, the sinisterly genteel headquarters of an apocalyptic cult, and the murder of the heir to England's most revered acting dynasty. Who is Myfanwy Davies? Where is her little sister? And why has death cast its long shadow over their investigations?

PRAISE FOR NATALIE MARLOW:

'Creates an atmosphere of mounting menace' The Times

'Superbly researched, spine-tingling, magnificently atmospheric' Abir Mukherjee, author of The Shadows of Men

'A truly splendid, wicked gem of a book. I loved it' Tom Mead, author of Death and the Conjuror