The Mystery of Yew Tree House

A Times Book of the Year 2024

‘Lesley Thomson at her considerable best - you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll never guess.’ ELLY GRIFFITHS

‘Always a treat reading Lesley Thomson.’ IAN RANKIN

EIGHTY YEARS OF SECRETS.

1940. At Yew Tree House, recently widowed Adelaide Stride is raising her two daughters alone – but it’s not just the threat of German invasion that keeps her up at night. She is surrounded by enemies posing as allies and, while war rages, she grows sure that something terrible is about to happen.

A BODY THAT REVEALS THEM ALL.

2023. Soon after Stella Darnell begins her holiday at Yew Tree House, a skeleton is found in a pillbox at the bottom of the garden. The bullet hole in the skull tells her that the person was murdered. This triggers the unravelling of a mystery eighty years in the making. Stella will learn that Adelaide was right to worry – the fighting might have been happening abroad, but the true enemy was always much closer to home...

A unique take on the traditional murder mystery from critically acclaimed author, Lesley Thomson, for fans of Elly Griffiths, Val McDermid and Mari Hannah.

‘Fiercely unique, it's a whodunnit on an epic scale.’ Sun

‘Thomson has created a complex mystery full of psychological suspense, worthy of Barbara Vine. She makes you feel the presence of evil.’ The Times

‘Elegant and spooky... A gripping demonstration that the past is never really the past.’ Mail on Sunday

Praise for The Detective's Daughter series:

‘Cunningly plotted.’ Mick Herron

‘One of the most original characters in British crime fiction.’ Sunday Times