The private patient

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this gripping crime thriller a renowned plastic surgeon's private clinic becomes the chilling backdrop for murder. • Part of the bestselling mystery series that inspired Dalgliesh on Acorn TV
"[James is] a master. . . . Nothing is as it first appears." —The Boston Globe
Cheverell Manor is a beautiful old house in Dorset, which its owner, the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell, uses as a private clinic. When the investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, arrives to have a disfiguring facial scar removed, she has every expectation of a successful operation and a peaceful week recuperating. But the clinic houses an implacable enemy and within hours of the operation Rhoda is murdered. Commander Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate a case complicated by old crimes and the dark secrets of the past. But Before Rhoda's murder is solved, a second horrific death adds to the complexities of one of Dalgliesh's most perplexing and fascinating cases.