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

With the bailiffs at their door, private enquiry agents William Garrett and Phyll Hall are relieved to take on what appears to be a straightforward and lucrative case. Respectable spinster Myfanwy Davies is dying and wishes to be reconciled with her estranged sister - her only living relative - before it's too late.

In their search for the missing woman, William and Phyll are drawn into a complex web of murder and intrigue, as they journey from the glamorous world of Britain's burgeoning film industry to the sinisterly genteel headquarters of an apocalyptic cult.

Just who is Myfanwy Davies? Where is her sister? In a case that is anything but straightforward, it's not long before death casts its long shadow over the investigation.

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