Vera Hilyard committed a terrible crime - and must be severely punished. She was sentenced to death by hanging - one of the last Englishwomen in the country's history. And behind the dry lines of the verdict, the sad story of an ordinary housewife, whom everyone knew as a well-behaved and harmless woman, was lost. But no one could even imagine what a terrible family secret Vera kept for many years in the farthest and darkest corner of her memory. And in order to hide this secret from others, she was ready to do anything - even brutal murder. And to her own death...Barbara Vine is the pseudonym of the famous “Detective Baroness” Ruth Rendell. Since her first novel was published in 1964, she has received numerous awards, including: the Association of British Crime Writers' Golden Dagger for Best Detective Novel (1976, 1986, 1987), the Diamond Dagger for her contribution to in the Development of the Genre (1991), the British National Book Award from the Arts Council for Fiction (1980), three Edgar Allan Poe Awards from the Association of American Mystery Thriller Writers, etc. In 1996, she became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and in 1997 - Baroness and life peer. Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages.