The glorious first part in the Lovers and Liars trilogy by the bestselling author of Rebecca's Tale and The Visitors.
One frosty January morning, an exquisitely dressed, beautiful blonde woman sends four identical parcels to four different destinations: Paris, New York, Venice and London. But this is no innocent transaction and the woman is not the person she claims to be.
Photographer Pascal Lamartine receives his package in Paris: it contains a woman's black glove, scented and disturbing. In London, reporter Gini Hunter, opens her parcel to find even more threatening contents. And, within hours, Gini and Pascal are assigned to a story rich in potential scandal. They must investigate John Hawthorne, the charismatic US Ambassador to Great Britain, and the rumours now circulating about him. If true, then Hawthorne's golden reputation conceals an even darker secret.
Gini and Pascal find themselves trapped in a mirror-world where all evidence is suspect. But they cannot remain distanced, for this story touches their own lives, their brief passionate love affair, which ignited and ended in a war zone twelve years before. In investigating John Hawthorne, they must also examine their own loyalties, and the secrets of their hearts.
A complex, sexy thriller . . . a glorious tangle of half-truths and double lies, of staged deaths and faked madness, with a touching love story at the heart of it . . . this is truly the stuff of which sleepless nights are made - Sunday Express
A thriller with plenty of thrills . . . a rattling good read - Sunday Telegraph
First-rate suspense - Cosmopolitan
This is one juicy tale that will keep you guessing to the very end - Company
Sure to be a bestseller . . . Beauman [knows] exactly what she is doing. Her pedigree is top drawer - The Times - Edwina Currie