Description

‘The new crime and espionage series from Penguin Classics makes for a mouth-watering prospect’ Daily Telegraph

Abducted, beaten, hidden in an attic, a young woman stages an audacious escape. But is her story everything she claims it to be?

Fifteen-year-old Betty Kane can recall every detail of the room where she says she was held at the country house known as The Franchise – even the crack in its round window. But her alleged kidnappers, a quiet-living mother and daughter, claim they have never seen her before. Somebody has to be lying. But who? As the case sparks a media frenzy, it is up to unassuming village solicitor Robert Blair to find out.

Publisher Review

Permanent classics in the detective field . . . no superlatives are adequate. * New York Times * An ingenious book ... The essential mystery is wonderfully established; the claustrophobic building-up of the apparently seamless case against the Sharpes is impeccably done. -- Sarah Waters A detective story with a very considerable difference. Ingenious, stimulating and very enjoyable. * Sunday Times * The perfect introduction to her world. -- Val McDermid