Jock Lewis was supposed to have died in a terrible train crash at Paddington. Minty, his girlfriend, received a letter telling her so. But, curiously, the police haven’t been in touch. And Jock has borrowed all her savings.

Zillah also got a letter informing her that her husband, Jerry Leach, was dead. Something about it struck her as suspicious, but she chooses not to mention her doubts to her fiancé, an up-and-coming Conservative Member of Parliament.

Fiona, a successful banker, met Jeff Leigh before the Paddington crash. And although he never seemed to have a job, and borrowed money from her, she is utterly devoted to him — and can’t understand why he suddenly disappeared.

As the novel progresses, it slowly becomes apparent how the lives of these women might be connected, and how they may figure into a series of vicious stabbing deaths that have shocked and terrified the citizens of London. With consummate skill, Ruth Rendell pulls the colourful strands of this harrowing story ever tighter, increasing the tension page by page.