A Victorian detective mystery with a devastating crime at its heart - when a young bride is snatched from her wedding, London-weary Inspector Dearborn finally has the chance to prove himself. But the crime is far more complex than anyone realises . . .
It is the summer of 1891 and a young, beautiful bride is snatched from her wedding, leaving her guests shocked and her new husband distraught. A search is hurriedly mounted, but as each minute passes the trail grows colder. In angry desperation they turn to Scotland Yard.
In Victorian London, Detective Inspector Solomon Dearborn has been crumbling under the failures of the Jack the Ripper investigation. Reluctantly he and his young assistant, Detective Sergeant Sparrowhawk, turn their attention to the missing Somerset bride. The crux of this mystery, though, is that it has all happened before...
From Fleet Street to the moors, Dearborn and Sparrowhawk endeavour to find the truth behind this dark and difficult crime.
Previously titled A Portrait of Barbara.
Full of surprises . . . twists and turns - Publishers Weekly
Born in Kingston-Upon-Thames and brought up in Cheshire, Robin Squire served as an infantryman in the British Army after leaving school. His first novel, Square One, was based on stories from his time in swinging sixties London. A stint working at the BBC then led to him playing the first Doctor Who alien to appear in colour, before he cut his screenwriting teeth on a film directed by Norman Cohen, writing numerous screenplays since - his experiences as a film writer on one particular film are wryly told in The Making of a Britflick. He has also written the novella Lavender Days.
Robin has two delightful daughters and two grandchildren. He lives in Hertfordshire and occasionally sings in care homes to brave and forgiving audiences.