Stuck in a traffic jam on her way to deliver her son's forgotten sports kit to school, Nicki Clements sees a face she hoped never to see again. It's definitely him, the same police officer. He's stopping all the cars on Elmhirst Road one by one, talking to every driver. Keen to avoid him, Nicki does a U-turn and takes a long and inconvenient detour, praying he won't notice her panicked escape.



He doesn't, but a CCTV camera does, as Nicki soon finds out when detectives pull her in for questioning the next day in connection with the murder of Damon Blundy, controversial newspaper columnist and resident of Elmhirst Road.



Nicki can't answer any of the baffling questions detectives fire at her. She has no idea why a killer might sharpen nine knives at the murder scene, then use two blunt ones to kill, in a way that involves no stabbing or spilling of blood. She doesn't know what 'HE IS NO LESS DEAD' means, or why the murderer painted it on the wall of Blundy's study. And she can't explain her desire to avoid Elmhirst Road on the day in question without revealing the secret that could ruin her life.



Because, although Nicki is not guilty of murder, she is far from innocent...