Peter Swanson is the New York Times bestselling author of THE KIND WORTH KILLING, winner of the New England Society Book Award and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; HER EVERY FEAR, an NPR book of the year; and EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS, a New York Times bestseller, among others.
Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone. But a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, the country residence of the Chapman family. Ashley is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma’s aloof and handsome brother. But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Over 30 years later, the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time.