The Wife of the Housekeeper

Isla Munro has kept the west wing of Ardnacraig House spotless for eleven years. She lives in the gatehouse with her wife, Bryn, and their dog, and she answers to Sir Hugh Fenner with the same quiet courtesy every morning. Then Sir Hugh falls down the west stair, and Isla is the first to find him. By the time DI Rafferty finishes her interviews, the estate has become a puzzle box. Isla's past employment cannot be verified. Bryn's national insurance number belongs to a woman who died in 2004. And Sir Hugh's will — signed six weeks before his death — leaves everything not to his son, but to the wife of his housekeeper. Someone in the gatehouse has been planning this for a very long time. A twisty psychological thriller about marriage, loyalty and one terrible twelve minutes, set on a Scottish estate where every door is kept locked from the inside.