The Secret Room
Wealthy, privileged Ilaria Cavendish checks into a luxury hotel in central London. Within the hour, her lover finds her submerged in a bath full of scalding water, dead. It looks like an accident, because no one went into the room with her and no one came out, but someone killed her all the same...
For DS Maeve Kerrigan the case is a welcome distraction from her worries about DI Josh Derwent, who is struggling with a difficult situation - but then disaster strikes. The only person who can help Josh now is Maeve. It's no longer will-they-won't-they, this is a matter of life and death.
- Maeve - Detective sergeant
- Josh - Detective inspector
- Melissa - Josh's girlfriend
- Ilaria - Murder victim
- Angus - Ilaria's husband
- Sam - Ilaria's affair partner/ Lora's boyfriend
- Dally - Ilaria's assistant
- Lora - Dally's sister
- Devon - Angus' ex-wife
- Abilo Braga - hotel waiter who brought Ilaria champagne before she died
- Josh's storyline:
- Josh is arrested for domestic violence.
- Melissa fabricated evidence that Josh was abusing her to punish him for wanting to leave her .
- She was also poisoning Thomas (her own son whom Josh adores) to get attention from Josh.
- Maeve debunks Melissa's lies by confirming that all the times Melissa claims abuse, Josh was out of town for work.
- Melissa gets arrested for child endangerment.
- Josh breaks up with Melissa.
- Josh and Maeve finally decide to be together and immediately get engaged.
- The case:
- Ilaria was strangled before being left in the bathtub.
- Ilaria was meeting Sam in the hotel weekly for their affair.
- Angus knew about the affair and was complicit.
- Abilo goes missing and is later found dead.
- Abilo was paid to help plan the murder and later killed to tie up loose ends.
- The killer snuck into Ilaria's room via the connecting room and snuck out on the bottom of Abilo's room service cart.
- The killer was Dally.
- Dally killed Ilaria because of her affair with Sam (who was her sister's boyfriend), and Devon promised to fund her new business if she carried out the murder.
- Devon wanted Ilaria dead so she could win Angus back.
- Maeve - Alive - Set to marry Josh
- Josh - Alive - Proposes to Maeve
- Melissa - Alive - Charged with child endangerment
- Ilaria - Dead - Killed by Dally
- Angus - Alive - No further details
- Sam - Alive - No further details
- Dally - Alive - Arrested for Ilaria's murder
- Lora - Alive - No further details
- Devon - Alive - Arrested for her role in Ilaria's murder
- Abilo Braga - Dead - Strangled by Dally
- Thomas - Alive - Recovering now that Melissa is no longer poisoning him
- Murder
- Fore
- Addiction
- Domestic abuse
- Child abuse
- Gaslighting
Happy
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008702274
Publication Date: April 24, 2025
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.