When the skeletons of a woman and her unborn child are unearthed at the bottom of her newly acquired country garden, Sarah Arnott wants to know how they came to be there. With baby Jonathan in tow, she begins to peer beneath the summer surface of village life ... and discovers it to be a good deal less idyllic than she had imagined.

Stylish and disturbing, 'The Precious Gift' is a thriller of subversive charm and compelling power.

"Brilliant, terrific, marvellous! 'The Precious Gift' is a book that has you on the edge of your armchair from page one ... a first rate read"

VAL HENNESSY, 'Daily Mail'

"John Bowen's 'The Precious Gift'is a highly enjoyable detective story written with great elegance and combining an original and credible mystery with sensitive characterisation and a subtle appreciation of the social and class nuances of English village life"

P D JAMES

"Elegant and unusual whodunnit ... a gem"

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

"A thriller which is that and much, much more"

FINANCIAL TIMES