Rupert and Adelaide Stride are raising their two daughters, Clare and Rosa, in the midst of war. When Rupert is called to fight, he dies on the beaches of Dunkirk, leaving his family to fend for themselves. Decades later, Clare and Rosa have retreated to the annex, trapped in the place where they were raised: Yew Tree House. When the rooms are put up for rent, Jack Harmon sees the perfect spot for a family holiday with his twins and detective Stella Darnell. But then the children discover a skeleton with a hole in its skull hidden in the brambles of a decommissioned WWII pill box. This home has always been a complicated one, but Stella and Jack will need to confront a history of revenge, desperation, and wartime tragedy to uncover the truth of what happened at Yew Tree House... 'Cunningly plotted.' 'One of the most original characters in British crime fiction.' 'In the best traditions of the classic whodunnit, this is for grown-ups.'