John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of fourteen previous novels including The Sea, which won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. He was recently awarded the Franz Kafka Prize. He lives in Dublin.

1899. As the new century approaches, English hack-writer Evelyn Dolman marries Laura Rensselaer, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat. But in the midst of a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, Evelyn's plans of a substantial inheritance are thrown into doubt. As the unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice at Palazzo Dioscuri - the ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo - a series of seemingly otherworldly occurrences exacerbate Evelyn's already frayed ne...

Wexford family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family - Detective Inspector St. John Strafford is called in from Dublin to investigate. But, as the snow continues to fall over this ever-expanding mystery, the people of Ballyglass are equally determined to keep their secrets.

**AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW**'Addictive.'DAILY TELEGRAPH'Hypnotic.'SUNDAY BUSINESS POST'Crime writing of the highest quality.'DAILY MAIL'Atmospheric and sinister with simmering tension .