The story of Robert Lawton's liaison with the widow of his friend, of the bitter hatred felt for Lawton by the widow's son, of the emotional involvement of Lawton's wife and children, is a brilliant psychological drama that is also a first-rate thriller. Each character is sharply defined, whether as sufferer or as wilful inflictor of suffering, and murder emerges as a means to demonstrate one man's power and superiority over others. (Publisher's blurb).
