Alison Joseph's literaire reis begon na een succesvolle carrière in radio- en televisieproductie. Haar romans, vaak gesitueerd binnen religieuze instellingen, duiken in complexe thema's als geloof, moraal en vrouwelijke identiteit. Joseph verweeft meesterlijk spanning en psychologische diepgang, waarmee ze een toegewijd lezerspubliek veroverde met haar onderscheidende stem.
Death is an everyday occurrence at the London teaching hospital of St. Hugh's, as Sister Agnes is well aware. But when an assistant in the pharmacology department dies, the handling of her death arouses Agnes's suspicions, and she finds herself at the heart of a web of murderous intrigue.
The latest stylish mystery featuring Sister Agnes, one of fiction's most refreshing detectives. Matthias Kavanagh was always lucky. Until he was killed in an unlucky accident. As Sister Agnes wonders, what odds would Matthias, a brilliant mathematician, have given on being killed by a golf ball whilst out riding? And of the same accident befalling someone else, weeks earlier? When does coincidence become meaningful? And accident murder?
Young, independent and all too aware of her human frailty, Sister Agnes finds her strength tested when she is seconded to Silworth, a women's prison in Southwark. When bitterness erupts into murder, she realizes she too has become entangled in a dark world stretching further than the prison walls.