And her own two sons were eager to oblige.  In fact, they had it all planned for Saturday night.  But by Friday, Lill was dead.  Who had done her in?  Who had beat them to the punch?  Had someone committed the perfect crime in an angry little town where everyone had a perfect alibi – and a perfect motive for murder?

In the claustrophobic relationships around the appalling Lill, Robert Barnard has used his gift for creating murderable monsters to set up a murder everybody can sympathize wth.