A tale of murder mystery and Meccano Golden Deeds tells the story of the middle-aged Patrick Mercer, lying unconscious in a hospital bed: of the teenaged Laura Pearse's disappearance and the grieving of her bereft parents; and the story of Colette, a young woman seeking a new life in a strange city. In warm, compassionate and beautiful prose, Catherine Chidgey delineates the connections which, however fragile, bind people together across continents and generations. 'Magnanimous and merciless, a work reminiscent at times of darkest Atwood...A witty and melancholy alchemy of heat and chill, a work of craft and fluency, which revitalizes the book in all its guises...for those who love books, Catherine Chidgey is a find' TLS