Four young schoolboys discover a body hanging from an oak tree. The man is identified as Mark Hardcastle who is employed as a set designer for the Eastvale Theatre.

Detective Annie Cabbot and Chief Inspector Alan Banks are involved in the investigation. They soon discover that everyone liked Mark. During the investigation, another body is discovered and this one is identified as Mark’s lover, Laurence Silbert. Laurence had been brutally beaten to death.

Everyone, at first, believed Mark’s death to be a suicide. Now that his lover had been murdered is there something more to Mark’s death? Could it have been a simple case of jealousy? Did the two of them have a fight? Was one planning

to leave? Did Mark beat his lover to death and hang himself out of guilt?

Whatever the answer, Annie and Detective Banks were not willing to accept suicide as an answer. Are they able to solve this case?

One of the things that really impressed me is the very descriptive language Peter Robinson uses in writing this novel. He makes the reader feel like they are right there as part of the story. He does an excellent job of setting the stage for the reader, gives them bits and pieces to help fill in the clues and lets them put it together in their mind. This novel has some interesting surprises and if readers are familiar with Orthello they will surely appreciate reading this book. You will discover that Peter Robinson is a very clever writer.