Why did Wynn Staniland a legend in the literary world suddenly become a recluse in the 1980s? Most assumed he stopped writing because of his wife's bizarre suicide; a death that mirrored a murder case from the nineteenth century & now a promising young author called Zac Wilkinson is working on Staniland's biography & hopes to reveal the true story to a waiting world
- while at the same time keeping his own troubled past hidden from public view When Wilkinson is found brutally murdered DI Wesley Peterson finds links to the unexplained poisoning of a middle-aged couple at a local caravan park
- & Wynn Staniland appears to be the connection As Wesley delves further into the case he suspects a sinister puppet show might provide the solution a grim re-enactment of the murder of Mary Field a cause celebre from the reign of Queen Victoria that inspired Staniland's best-known novel The case becomes personal for Wesley when he discovers his son is involved & as he begins to unravel decades of secrets & deception the shocking truth proves almost too much to bear