When Grace and her brother Andrew inherit their grandmother s house in Hampstead, they decide to move in together. It seems the obvious thing to do: they ve always got on well, the house is large enough to split down the middle, and neither of them likes partying or loud music. There s one thing they ve forgotten though: what if one of them wants to bring a lover into the house? When Andrew s partner James moves in, it alters the balance – with almost fatal consequences.

Barbara Vine s is the pen-name of Ruth Rendell, and The Child s Child is the first book she has published under that name since The Birthday Present in 2008. It s an intriguing examination of betrayal in families, and of those two once-unmentionable subjects, illegitimacy and homosexuality.