Mari quits school after her father’s death to help her demanding mother run the Hotel Iris. Behind the reception desk she witnesses a prostitute scream abuse and storm out of the hotel, then hears the voice of the man from the hotel room and is intrigued. She spots him in the street one day and follows.

There are rumours about this man — that he killed his wife, but Mari can’t quell her attraction. Will she be safe with a man so much older than her? Will the rumours prove true? Or will something darker occur?

Read the Guardian’s review on the book cover — this is absolutely true of this macabre tale that I couldn’t put down.