When the body of a successful criminal barrister is found outside a chic Kensington hotel, it looks at first like a suicide. For colleagues and friends, her death comes as a huge shock - Marianne Shearer was at the pinnacle of her career, wealthy and stylish - but for the police the case is open-and-shut.

There's something strange about the circumstances, though, something that prompts fellow lawyers Thomas Nobel and Peter Friel to dig deeper. Little by little, they discover that all is not as it seems. Oddly enough, Marianne herself appears to have left a series of small, almost imperceptible clues - clues that point to a far more sinister truth. Retracing Marianne's steps, Nobel and Friel uncover a carefully concealed darker side of her perfect life that leads them back to her last, gruesome case - when she knowingly sacrificed an innocent witness to let a criminal walk free.

With the skill and empathy which caused A.N. Wilson to describe her as 'the best female crime writer in this country', Frances Fyfield has produced an outstanding novel of the destruction of hatred and revenge.

About the Author
Frances Fyfield has spent much of her professional life practising as a criminal lawyer, work which has informed her highly acclaimed crime novels. She has been the recipient of both the Gold and Silver Crime Writers' Association Daggers. She is also a regular broadcaster on Radio 4, most recently as the presenter of the series 'Tales from the Stave'. She lives in London and in Deal, overlooking the sea which is her passion.

Reviews
A genuinely original and imaginative writer, [Fyfield] offers a fascinating read... An admirable crime novel * Literary Review *
Fyfield is routinely and rightly praised for her elegant prose... What doesn't get mentioned so often is that when it comes to the dissection of the human spirit, she is the most brutal scalpel-wielder we have...one of Highsmith's true heirs * The Guardian *
Blood From Stone has all the complexity you'd expect from this award-winning grande dame of crime fiction - she's up there with Rendell, James, McDermid and Walters... Simply terrific * Observer *
As always, Fyfield leaves her readers with shivers that take a long time to go away' The Times * 'Among her myriad literary skills, Frances Fyfield is adept at creating blood-chilling psychopaths. Like her American predecessor Patricia Highsmith, she takes us deep into their twisted psychology' *


Awards
Winner of CWA Gold Dagger for Fiction 2008 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9780751539271
Author Frances Fyfield
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Sphere
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 238g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 162mm * 23mm