When wealthy newspaper magnate Sir Harry Huxwood is shot dead in his own bed, it is Inspector Scobie Maloneâe(tm)s job to pick up the pieces and name the killer. This means infiltrating the opulent Huxwood residence, Malmaison House, where Lady Phillipa presides over the sprawling Huxwood family and staff âe" and a veritable vipersâe(tm) nest. As Malone investigates he uncovers the stuff of headlines: a forgotten love affair; Fleet Street incomers versus an ex-crim on the make; a family dogfight over potential handouts of fifty million dollars apiece; a silence that has lasted twenty five years. And, making it smell sweeter on the surface, a rose garden to rival Empress Josephineâe(tm)s. Amidst unwanted interference from his superiors and all the attention attracted by such a high profile case, the pressure is on Malone to come up with the true story, once and for all. âeoeThe business of a novelist is to tell a story. Jon Cleary has that talent in abundanceâe SUNDAY EXPRESS âeoeThe Malone stories come alive through their setting âe¦ Clearyâe(tm)s writing is seamless and his plots imaginative and matureâe MIAMI HERALD