With this stunning debut--a marvelous marriage of classic convention and contemporary sophistication--Minette Walters sets a new standard of excellence for the mystery novel. The three women living in seclusion at an elegant Hampshire country house have long been fodder for village gossip...even whispers of a witches' coven. So when a faceless corpse of uncertain vintage is found in the Streech Grange ice house, Chief Inspector Walsh can't wait to make a case of it. Lady of the manor Phoebe Maybury, still haunted by Walsh's relentless investigation of her husband's strange disappearance ten years ago, is calm. She and her two housemates--sensitive, charming artist Diana Goode and pretty, earthy Anne Cattrell--seem as puzzled as the police. But do they have something to hide? While Walsh strives to nail Phoebe for murder, sexy young Detective Sergeant McLoughlin turns his attention to the exasperating and magnetic Anne. Soon his inquiry and his impulses will draw him into a tangled thicket of love, loyalty, and deadly intrigue.

米涅・渥特丝

1949年9月26日生于英国的Stortford，从小就喜欢阅读社会新闻，中学时进人Godolphin寄宿学校学习（阿嘉莎・克里斯蒂也曾就读于此），1968年毕业于Durham大学外语系后，成为其妇女杂志罗曼司专栏编辑，并迅速被提拔为主编。

1992年她开始尝试推理小说写作，处女作《冰屋》甫一出版即引起轰动，荣获英国侦探作家协会年度最佳新作奖；1993年，她的第二本书《女雕刻家》越过了大西洋，到美国拿了爱伦坡奖的年度最佳小说，并得到“最强有力的”。“最叹为观止的”绝高赞语；1994年，她的第三本书《毒舌钩》再次转回了英国，获得侦探作家协会金匕首奖的年度最佳小说。她的出现是20世纪末推理世界的最大惊喜。《纽约时报书评》写道：“渥特丝小姐突破了英国传统推理小说的既定格式，创作出更具特色、非传统、层次感丰富的小说艺术。”