In this provocative mystery from beloved crime writer Denise Mina, new evidence in an old murder case leads a forensic scientist to an impossible choice: Would you still do the right thing if you knew it would cost everything you loved?
Doctor Claudia O’Sheil is approaching the podium at an elegant fundraiser, where she is expected to give a speech about how her forensic science evidence helped convict the brutal killer in her most famous case: The Incident at Chester Terrace, a sensational double-murder that ignited the country just one year before.
But the research has moved on, the evidence Claudia gave was junk science, used to put William Stewart away for the murder of his father and his girlfriend. Because of her an innocent man is in prison, and she didn’t act alone—some very powerful people have an agenda she is only beginning to understand. This speech might be her last chance to reveal the truth and catch the real murderer. But admitting her mistake will cost Claudia: her reputation, her career, her home, security for her two sons, the esteem of her colleagues, and the pride of a nation obsessed with her success. In this breathless upmarket suspense novel, interwoven with the present-day framework is a past narrative that slowly reveals what actually happened the night of a devastating double-murder in a wealthy family.
As Claudia steps toward the microphone, she revisits the murder investigation, desperate to understand what went wrong before her chance is gone. What speech will Claudia give? And what really happened at Chester Terrace that night?