DARKEST EVENING (VERA STANHOPE 9) (PB)

Driving through a swirling blizzard, DI Vera Stanhope comes across a car abandoned on the road with its door open. Vera assumes the driver has sought shelter but is shocked to find a toddler strapped in the back seat. Afraid they will freeze, Vera takes the child and drives on to Brockburn, a run-down stately home where a party is in full swing, with music and laughter to herald the coming Christmas. But outside in the snow, a young woman lies dead, and Vera has a new case.