Unputdownable, 03 Jun 2008
In my opinion, this is Yorke's best book. Intriguing and gripping while addressing some most interesting ethical issues, it clatters at breakneck pace towards its unguessable and breathtaking conclusion.

A heart wrenching story with a revengeful twist!, 10 Aug 1999
Margaret Yorke captures her reader's attention immediately with the break in at a house and rape of a young girl. The girl and her family are torn apart by the tragic events of that night and go their separate ways. The girl blames her father for not trying to help her and, racked with guilt, her father sets out on the dangerous path of revenge.

Middle-aged and middle-class, clean-living Isabel Vernon's world is turned upside down by the arrival of her not-so-clean-living, long-lost goddaughter, Emily Frost. Overweight and shaven-haired, Emily, who was arrested after a scuffle with police on the site of an anti-road protest camp, swaps her unconventional tree-house for the conventional, highly sanitized commuter belt des res of Isabel and husband Douglas, an emotionally clipped civil servant with a penchant for pergolas and similar, carefully structured, garden features. Living with the Vernons as a condition of bail turns out to be the best thing that has happened to Emily for some time and she soon warms to her clean, comfortable home and temporary job as a nanny/housekeeper. Douglas, however, is less impressed and, before long, even his cynical suspicions are far surpassed by reality.

Margaret Yorke, a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association, with an impressive string of more than 40 novels to her name, has produced a traditional murder mystery against a topical, contemporary backdrop. Her easy style and descriptive narrative of the ordinary folk of Middle England belie her considerable skill at spinning a complex plot, where both heroines and villains turn out to have far more to them than originally meets the eye. --Carey Green

Unputdownable, 03 Jun 2008
In my opinion, this is Yorke's best book. Intriguing and gripping while addressing some most interesting ethical issues, it clatters at breakneck pace towards its unguessable and breathtaking conclusion.

A heart wrenching story with a revengeful twist!, 10 Aug 1999
Margaret Yorke captures her reader's attention immediately with the break in at a house and rape of a young girl. The girl and her family are torn apart by the tragic events of that night and go their separate ways. The girl blames her father for not trying to help her and, racked with guilt, her father sets out on the dangerous path of revenge.

A good read, 04 Dec 2006
I enjoyed this book. I did not expect the twist in store in the book about the god daughter.
I have read a few of Margaret Yorke's good and was not disappointed with this one. I enjoy the descriptions of life in the Middle England villages as much as anything.

Unputdownable, 03 Jun 2008
In my opinion, this is Yorke's best book. Intriguing and gripping while addressing some most interesting ethical issues, it clatters at breakneck pace towards its unguessable and breathtaking conclusion.

A heart wrenching story with a revengeful twist!, 10 Aug 1999
Margaret Yorke captures her reader's attention immediately with the break in at a house and rape of a young girl. The girl and her family are torn apart by the tragic events of that night and go their separate ways. The girl blames her father for not trying to help her and, racked with guilt, her father sets out on the dangerous path of revenge.

A good read, 04 Dec 2006
I enjoyed this book. I did not expect the twist in store in the book about the god daughter.
I have read a few of Margaret Yorke's good and was not disappointed with this one. I enjoy the descriptions of life in the Middle England villages as much as anything.

No medals For The Major, 07 Aug 2008
Excellent psychological drama. Despite being published in 1974, this book is still relevant today. Rather sad but realistic characters and very controlled writing make this a good read.

Middle-aged and middle-class, clean-living Isabel Vernon's world is turned upside down by the arrival of her not-so-clean-living, long-lost goddaughter, Emily Frost. Overweight and shaven-haired, Emily, who was arrested after a scuffle with police on the site of an anti-road protest camp, swaps her unconventional tree-house for the conventional, highly sanitized commuter belt des res of Isabel and husband Douglas, an emotionally clipped civil servant with a penchant for pergolas and similar, carefully structured, garden features. Living with the Vernons as a condition of bail turns out to be the best thing that has happened to Emily for some time and she soon warms to her clean, comfortable home and temporary job as a nanny/housekeeper. Douglas, however, is less impressed and, before long, even his cynical suspicions are far surpassed by reality.

Margaret Yorke, a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association, with an impressive string of more than 40 novels to her name, has produced a traditional murder mystery against a topical, contemporary backdrop. Her easy style and descriptive narrative of the ordinary folk of Middle England belie her considerable skill at spinning a complex plot, where both heroines and villains turn out to have far more to them than originally meets the eye. --Carey Green

Unputdownable, 03 Jun 2008
In my opinion, this is Yorke's best book. Intriguing and gripping while addressing some most interesting ethical issues, it clatters at breakneck pace towards its unguessable and breathtaking conclusion.

A heart wrenching story with a revengeful twist!, 10 Aug 1999
Margaret Yorke captures her reader's attention immediately with the break in at a house and rape of a young girl. The girl and her family are torn apart by the tragic events of that night and go their separate ways. The girl blames her father for not trying to help her and, racked with guilt, her father sets out on the dangerous path of revenge.

A good read, 04 Dec 2006
I enjoyed this book. I did not expect the twist in store in the book about the god daughter.
I have read a few of Margaret Yorke's good and was not disappointed with this one. I enjoy the descriptions of life in the Middle England villages as much as anything.

No medals For The Major, 07 Aug 2008
Excellent psychological drama. Despite being published in 1974, this book is still relevant today. Rather sad but realistic characters and very controlled writing make this a good read.

A good read, 04 Dec 2006
I enjoyed this book. I did not expect the twist in store in the book about the god daughter.
I have read a few of Margaret Yorke's good and was not disappointed with this one. I enjoy the descriptions of life in the Middle England villages as much as anything.