The third novel in the Lydmouth crime series, from the prize-winning author of the Richard and Judy Book Club novel, The American Boy. After the coldest night of the year, they find the man's body. He's dangling from the Hanging Tree on the outskirts of a village near Lydmouth, with his trousers round his ankles. Is it suicide, murder, or accidental death resulting from some bizarre sexual practice? Journalist Jill Francis and Detective Inspector Thornhill become involved in the case in separate ways. Jill is also drawn unwillingly into the affairs of the small public school where the dead man taught. And there are more distractions, on a personal level, for policeman and reporter . . .