Winner of the CWA John Creasey/New Blood Dagger Award It's been ten years since Phoebe Marbury's husband disappeared from their country manor, Streech Grange, when one afternoon her gardener discovers a decomposed body in the ice house. Now in her mid-thirties, Phoebe shares the manor with two unmarried friends, and the rumors in the village suggest they're up to something--witchcraft, lesbianism, child abuse. Chief Inspector Walsh is eager to find out for himself when he's called to investigate the body. What he discovers is a faceless, contorted corpse and three women who have no interest in helping out the police, and clearly know something they're not telling him. Minette Walters's first novel gives a raw, contemporary spin to a classic mystery convention, and the result is "splendid . . . an extraordinary debut" ("St. Petersburg Times").

米涅・渥特丝

1949年9月26日生于英国的Stortford，从小就喜欢阅读社会新闻，中学时进人Godolphin寄宿学校学习（阿嘉莎・克里斯蒂也曾就读于此），1968年毕业于Durham大学外语系后，成为其妇女杂志罗曼司专栏编辑，并迅速被提拔为主编。

1992年她开始尝试推理小说写作，处女作《冰屋》甫一出版即引起轰动，荣获英国侦探作家协会年度最佳新作奖；1993年，她的第二本书《女雕刻家》越过了大西洋，到美国拿了爱伦坡奖的年度最佳小说，并得到“最强有力的”。“最叹为观止的”绝高赞语；1994年，她的第三本书《毒舌钩》再次转回了英国，获得侦探作家协会金匕首奖的年度最佳小说。她的出现是20世纪末推理世界的最大惊喜。《纽约时报书评》写道：“渥特丝小姐突破了英国传统推理小说的既定格式，创作出更具特色、非传统、层次感丰富的小说艺术。”