Novembre 1978. Britain is on strike. The dead lie unburied, rubbish piles in the streets - and in West London 'mad Annie' dies in a rain-soaked gutter.
Her passing would have gone unmourned but for the young woman who finds her and who believes - apparently against reason - that she was murdered. For something passed between Annie and Mrs Ranelagh at the moment of death.
But why is Mrs Ranelagh so convinced it was murder when by her own account Annie died without speaking ? And why does she spend the next twenty years painstackingly trying to uncover the truth... ?
(back cover)

This title was laying on a wishlist.

This book arrived safely and I picked it up from the post office today! Already started it during lunch on my walk home - thank you for sending it so far, Passeur-X!

Mixed feelings on this one. Very very interestingly constructed book, in a way that pulls one in, and yet. I started it sometime back--last year I think--before putting it aside, then brought it along to finish on this sudden trip.

A major issue for any future readers: there are explicit descriptions of cruelty to animals, to the extent that if I'd known I'd have never started it. It's actually the main reason I stopped reading it months ago. Somehow I thought it might make it better if I read the resolution but I'm not sure if it did. And in the end, after the careful story construction and buildup, the end fell flat for me. Would be hesitant to read more by this author because of the subject matter, though she is skilled in her craft.

Left with my sister last week, who will be setting it free in a little free library in the Mass area!