A dark and twisted crime novel, this is the eagerly anticipated follow up to The Botanist.

Washington Poe has a story to tell.

And he needs you to listen.

You'll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . .
He'll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He'll tell you how the man's murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family.

And finally, he'll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it.
Poe hopes you've been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . .

Praise for M W Craven:

'One of the finest and most inventive crime writers of today' Peter James

'Extraordinary' The Times

'One of the most memorable police officers we've encountered in a long time' The Independent