The Poison Tree: A Novel

The handsome student who lived at 57 West Street died there too his brutal murderer never brought to justice.  For Terry Williams returning to Oxford University to complete a doctorate in detective fiction the houses macabre history simply means its cheap.  She never suspected the twisted passsions that led to the students death would entwine around her own life.. A stray cat traumatized by some past act of cruelty a hidden cache of pornography a close neighbors illicit love affair .  .  .  soon Terry is drawn into a mystery more chilling than any in her fictional studies.  And back in the classroom she is uncovering a secret erotic side to academia where moral rules are suspended and where a tragic obsession may prove deadly for the innocent .  .  .  or for a woman seeing too clearly into a killers dark and merciless heart.. From the Paperback edition.