'Superbly and elegantly written... executed with skill, finesse and considerable compassion. A very impressive debut from a fully-formed writer' Irish Independent

Shortlisted for The Betty Trask, The Val McDermid Debut Award and The CWA Gold Dagger.

Anna Deerin moves to a remote Cotswold cottage to become a gardener, trying to strip away everything she's spent all her life as a woman striving for, craving the anonymity and privacy her new off-grid life provides.

But when she clears the last vegetable bed and digs up not twigs but bones, the outside world is readmitted.

With it comes Detective Inspector Hitesh Mistry, who has his own reasons for a new start in the village of Upper Magna.

Drawn in spite of herself to this unknown woman from another time, Anna is determined to uncover her identity and gain recognition for her, if not justice.

As threats to Anna and her new life grow closer, she and DI Mistry will find that this murder is inextricably bound up with issues of gender, family, community, race and British identity itself – all as relevant in decades past as they are to Anna today.



Born and raised in South Gloucestershire, Bonnie Burke-Patel studied History at Oxford. After working for half a decade in politics and policy, she changed careers and became a preschool teacher, before beginning to write full time. She lives with her husband, son, and needy cat in south east London, and is working on her next crime novel about fairy tales, desire, and the seaside.



'A hard-hitting mystery drama that simultaneously celebrates and skewers the country house tradition, Bonnie Burke-Patel's debut is beautifully written, told with empathy and a razor-sharp wit. I couldn't put it down' - Seth Insua, author of Human, Animal



'Beautifully written with a deeply moving climax, Bonnie Burke-Patel's debut is a gripping novel full of hope. In a woman's search for a different future, the secrets of the past are unearthed, revealed with perfectly paced drama. Exquisite and emotional, this is a thrilling read'