An Empty Death

A Scotland Yard detective in war-weary London investigates a doctor’s death in a thriller by the author of The Innocent Spy: “An exceptional talent.” —Laura Lippman, New York Times–bestselling author of Lady in the Lake

Summer, 1944. After almost five years of conflict, London’s inhabitants are exhausted. DI Ted Stratton is no exception, but he cannot help being drawn in by his latest case. Called to investigate when a doctor is found dead in Fitzrovia’s Middlesex Hospital, Stratton soon realizes that someone involved is not who they appear to be. Someone has discarded their own identity, and that someone is on a killing spree.

Meanwhile Jenny, Ted’s wife, who’s working at the local recovery center, is also running on fumes. When a bombed-out woman shows up, declaring that the man claiming to be her husband is an imposter, Jenny blames the woman’s confusion on shock. The reality, however, is much stranger and far more dangerous . . .

Ultimately, for both Stratton and Jenny there may be only one thing they can really trust: their fear. And for one of them, that fear may prove to be justified, in this gripping crime thriller by a winner of the Ellis Peters Award for Best Historical Mystery.

“All the strands are meticulously handled.” —Booklist