LITMIR.BIZ

       Copyright

      HarperCollinsPublishers

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      This ebook edition published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 1996

      Copyright © Val McDermid 1996

      Cover design by Micaela Alcaino © HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

      Cover photographs © Silas Manhood / Arcangel Images

      Val McDermid asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      This is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books

      Source ISBN: 9780008344931

      Ebook Edition © NOVEMBER 2019 ISBN: 9780007327577

      Version: 2019-10-15

       Praise for Val McDermid

      ‘The queen of crime is still at the top of her game’

       INDEPENDENT

      ‘No one can tell a story like she can’

       DAILY EXPRESS

      ‘One of today’s most accomplished crime writers’

       LITERARY REVIEW

      ‘McDermid remains unrivalled’

       OBSERVER

      ‘Incredibly suspenseful’

       SUNDAY MIRROR

      ‘This is crime writing of the very highest order’

       THE TIMES

      ‘A gripping page-turner’

       METRO

      ‘A terrific read’

       DAILY TELEGRAPH

       Dedication

      For Fairy, Lesley and all the other lesbian mothers who prove that moulds are there to be broken. And for Robyn and Andrew and Jack