It's the summer of 1965, and the streets of Queens, New York shimmer in a heatwave. One July morning, Ruth Malone wakes to find a bedroom window wide open and her two young children missing. After a desperate search, the police make a horrifying discovery, and suspicion falls on Ruth, fuelled by local gossip. But a tabloid journalist looking into the case begins to have doubts. Ruth Malone is enthralling, challenging and secretive, but is she really capable of murder? This is a gripping novel about love, morality and obsession, exploring the capacity for good and evil within us all.