“An excellent terror novel” from a twentieth-century master of psychological suspense, the Edgar Award–winning author of The Hours Before Dawn and Uncle Paul (The Times Literary Supplement).
 
Round and round on the London Underground rides Milly Barnes, who has left her real identity—and a shocking crime—behind in the basement flat she shares with her second husband. A union in name only, the marriage has taken its toll on Milly, leaving her only one option: escape. 
 
Once Milly gets her wits about her, she uses what little money she has to take a train to the coastal town of Seacliffe. There, she finds work as the help for the kind of women she once was, and finds a humble room in a boarding house. Freedom, like a breath of fresh ocean air, exhilarates Milly more than the trappings of the life she has left behind. That is, when she’s not furtively reading newspaper headlines to check if she’s been found out. Or hiding from phone calls and knocks on the door. For the consequences of Milly’s not-so-distant past are closer than she thinks . . .
 
Praise for Celia Fremlin
 
“Few people can chill the blood like Celia Fremlin.” —The Daily Telegraph
 
“Fremlin is here to stay as a major mistress of insight and suspense.” —The New York Times
 
“Britain’s Patricia Highsmith.” —The Sunday Times
 
“Fremlin packs a punch.” —Ian Rankin, New York Times–bestselling author 
 
“Splendid . . . Got me hooked.” —Ruth Rendell, New York Times–bestselling author 
 
“Brilliant . . . So witty and clever.” —Elly Griffiths, USA Today–bestselling author
 
 “A master of suspense.” —Janice Hallett, internationally bestselling author