Blood Lies Fifth in the Dido Hoare Mysteries series. First publication: 2001 UK hard/soft back US hardback   More? Read sample chapter Reviews Buy on-line(coming soon)

Escaping from bad memories and nightmares in London, Dido goes to visit her childhood friend, Lizzie Waring. Lizzie is staying in a picture-postcard village in Somerset with her husband and his family: his “dysfunctional family”, as Lizzie's mother insists. The Warings own Monksdanes, a historic manor house. It's the perfect place for an over-active, over-stressed Londoner to rest and recuperate.

At first, Dido is enchanted by her surroundings, but she soon understands that the postcard beauty is just a facade. Something has gone badly wrong with Lizzie’s life, and the Warings are a secretive bunch whose family motto would most certainly be “ Blood is thicker than water.” The truth is that nothing is what it seems.

A few years ago, a woman had been shot in the library of the historic mansion. The family's youngest son is about to return from prison, having served a term for the killing: was it manslaughter, murder, or accident? His return proves a catalyst for revenge. Dido probes the shadows in an attempt to help her old friend, making enemies and allies as she goes. And before long she finds the sinister reality of this sleepy village - and the horrifying truth.