The Masters of the House

In the late winter of 1979 Leeds housewife Ellen Heenan dies in childbirth - abandoning a guilt-stricken husband to insanity's grasp and leaving four young children to find for themselves.<br><br>Thirteen-year-old Matthew and Annie age twelve know what the authorities will do if the learn of Father's debilitating madness. A close-knit family will be speedily unravelled its threads scattered carelessly to the winds. So deception is the only recourse - a façade of normalcy that must be carefully constructed to fool prying neighbourhood eyes. And resourceful young Matthew and his sister have the situation well in hand - until a freshly slain corpse turns up beneath the kitchen window . . .<br><br>'Gripping and satisfying' <i>Chicago Tribune</i><br><br>'Subtle and surprising . . . Robert Barnard at his best' <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i><br><br>'A sad sweet horror of a story . . . the suspense is delicious.' <i>New York Times Book Review</i>