Frances Hegarty Volgorde van de boeken

Elisabeth is a picture restorer. This gives her the solitude and independence she needs - living and working alone in her flat. Despite her skills and reliability, Elizabeth undercharges for her work - valuing the worth of the paintings rather more than herself. Her ambitions are modest: beauty to look upon, unintrusive friendships and complete privacy. But when a mysterious and obviously wealthy man commissions her to restore his fabulous collection, an uncharacteristic combination of curiosity and financial need prompts her to accept his offer. Elisabeth soon realises her error, as the past and the present combine to make privacy her nemesis. As she becomes hostage to her patron, her lover and her friend realise they know nothing about her, or where she might be.

Wanneer een ex-politieagente onderzoekt wie haar zuster enkele jaren eerder op brute wijze heeft vermoord, leidt het spoor naar een relatiebemiddelingsbureau.

Isabel Burley returns to her childhood home to look after her mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. There she finds an angry old woman, prey to the threats of failing memory, the inability to run her own life and the local villains, who are eyeing her isolated house. The real threat, however, comes from within. Isabel thinks she has gone home to do good, but really she is looking for the love she lacked as a child. Isolated by her mother's growing dementia, the two women become locked in a relationship of hatred and simmering violence, with roots that go deep into the past. . .

In de loop van het onderzoek naar de moord op de echtgenote van een plaatselijke projectontwikkelaar krijgt de politie toch twijfels over de identiteit van de mogelijke dader.