Then Dan meets Margaret, a beautiful and apparently impoverished student, and things begin to get out of hand. And then Margaret is murdered. Dan finds himself in a race against time to solve the crime and save himself and his marriage.This is Colin Bateman's debut novel and it won the 1994 Betty Trask Prize. It was adapted into a 1998 film starring David Thewlis. Colin Bateman is also the author of Murphy's Law, which he adapted from the pilot episode of the BBC series of the same name starring James Nesbitt.As this book is now 20 years old, the pages have discoloured with age as can be seen in the accompanying photographs. The binding is still tight though and it is rare to find a signed copy of this novel.