A SECLUDED COTSWOLD MANOR. AN EXCLUSIVE CRIME-WRITING RETREAT. A BODY AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS.

Welcome to Wychbrook House, where the gardens are immaculate, the wine flows freely, and everyone has something to hide.

Criminologist and crime novelist Portia De’Ath has arrived to lead a workshop on Constructing the Perfect Murder.

But one of the guests, tabloid journalist Benjamin Avery, is more interested in real crimes others would rather keep buried. Benjamin claims someone at the retreat is hiding ‘something criminal’ — and he intends to expose it.

Then he misses breakfast.

Minutes later, he’s found at the foot of the tower stairs. His head lolls at an unnatural angle. A shattered whisky glass glitters beside him.

The police see a drunken accident. Portia sees details that don’t fit. Benjamin’s laptop and satchel are missing, and pages have been torn from his notebook.

Portia begins her own investigation. But as she closes in on the truth, she finds herself in danger — and turns to her fiancé, Cambridge DCI Arthur St. Just, for help.

Someone at Wychbrook is no longer writing about murder.

They’re committing it.