An audio book.
"39 months before" in London, Lily Foster (tattooist) splits with William (landscape gardener) who, arguing too much with clients, plans to return to his mother in Dorset. After he's gone back and found a house and a client or two, he invites her down for a camping holiday, hoping she'll like the idea of living in the countryside. They sleep together. He throws himself over a cliff.
India separates from Charlie (William's brother, a psychologist) because he can't get over the grief. His mother is angry with her, telling her that he won't cope. His mother has been married for 17 years to a long-suffering 2nd husband who started a chain of bakery shops when he met her and they moved to Dorset.
Isobel Ardeny is Tommy Lindley's boss. Barbara Havers is a colleague. Dorothea the secretary goes out for an evening with Barbara hoping to get her to enjoy life more. Barbara says she doesn't have the time for sex and love.
The relationship between Alistair and Caro[line] had become sexless and increasingly loveless, even before the suicide. Alistair accepts a meal offer from Sharon, an employee he's known and respected for years - a middle-aged widow with 2 grown children.
Charlie follows India, even though she's started dating, going out with Nat.
Caroline has become PA for Clare Abbot, a feminist author and TV guest. Rory (female), Clare's editor, dislikes Caroline, who's protective and possessive. Barbara goes to Abbot's book signing in London. Tommy reads Abbot's book and discusses it with his girlfriend, Daydra, a zoo vet.
Back in Shaftesbury, Abbot pays for a memorial for William, surprising Caroline with it. Rory had lost her (female?) partner 9 years before, in a tragedy. Clare had helped her through. Clare dies overnight in a Cambridge hotel - a suspicious heart attack. Caroline had been in a linked bedroom at the time, the door locked on her side. Rory inherits from her. She's poisoned in the same way as Clare, but recovers.
Dorothea takes Barbara speed-dating. At work, Barbara's a loose cannon. Lily has (for unstated reasons) moved to Dorset, opening a tattoo shop in Shaftesbury. She's given an ASBO for behaviour towards Caroline.
In the night of Clare's death, she and Caroline had been heard arguing. The poison was in Clare's tootpaste. It had been passed on to Rory after Clare's death, who had used it, so maybe Rory wasn't an intended victim. We learn eventually that the tootpaste was Caroline's. The contacts on Clare's computer show that she'd used a sex dating site, and had met men - research for her next book? Had Caroline used Clare's account? The police contact the men, discover it was a bit of both, and that they'd been blackmailed. Among the contacts was Hermione who allegedly was writing a book for Clare. So there are several reasons why Clare and Caroline might have become enemies.
The police visit Caroline's first husband, Francis, and discover that Caroline hadn't told the truth about him. They visit Caroline's mother and discover that Caroline at 14 had given away a child for adoption.
India feels sympathy for Charlie, who's recovering. She agrees to host his mother for a night or two while in London. But his mother uses the opportunity to snoop, passing info to Charlie. This causes Nat to break with India.
Barbara finds Clare's hoard of letters and printed email messages. There are notes from Caroline saying that her husband had sex with babysitters while their children were watching. Clare had sex with some of the men she met. She had sex with Rory once, when Rory was sad. Was Caroline blackmailing Clare about this? Tommy wonders if his love of Daydra is because of his sadness.
Caroline had tried to kill herself when pregnant with Will. When Will was 10 or 11 she'd taught/helped him to masturbate when he felt a seizure coming on. He'd told his natural father's second wife about it.
We get a long description of Fiona's last moments - Rory tells Tommy about it. Murder and rape. Survivor syndrome. Rory somehow hoped that "turning" Clare would make things better.
Alistaire thinks that Sharon has the poison in her house. He offers to dispose of it. She's upset that he might think her capable of that. Police investigations of computers reveal that Alistaire, Caroline and Lily were all somehow implicated in ordering the poison. Or were the computers fiddled with? Caroline confesses to the crime.
Charlie confesses to India that his mother used him as a husband substitute on lonely nights when he was 6. She stopped after a while. He realised recently that she'd moved onto Will because Lily had found some notes. He'd tried to murder his mother (planting evidence in the computers) but it went wrong. India decides to move back with him. They realise that his mother's confession is a form of apology.
Tommy realises that Daydra likes being independent but that doesn't mean the they can't be a couple. Barbara has improved her reputation in the force. Dorothea is still keen to help her enjoy life more.
Police helpfully tell suspects the story so far. They don't follow up the drug lead in a hurry. And there are some unlikely plot devices. Pyschologist Charlie's behaviour is surprising. On the plus side, several relationships are narrated, and the police don't get it right in the end.
Alistaire plans to open a bakers in Swanage. There's a scene in Wareham where Barbara visits the church on North Street then goes into a tea-room. And Cambridge is a murder venue - all places with family connections.
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