A Christmas murder mystery . . .

It's three days before Christmas and the Malworth Amateur Dramatic Society's rehearsals of Cinderella, scripted by local GP Carl Bignall, are struggling thanks to a flu epidemic. But, as rehearsals finally get under way at the Riverside Theatre, the police across town have entered Carl's house - and discovered the body of his wife, Estelle . .

. Why was Carl so late for rehearsal? Why is the Bignalls' neighbour so reluctant to tell the truth about what he witnessed? And why is Dr Denis Leeward, Carl's partner, sitting in his car, slightly bruised and in a state of guilty panic?All Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd knows for sure, as he takes charge of the investigation, is that one of them is a murderer . .

. 'One of the generation of crime writers who shifted the genre firmly into the contemporary world. Although she held fast to the traditional skill of well-crafted plots, she brought a modern perspective to characters and situations, creating a series of thoughtful and engaging police procedurals' - Val McDermid