"I believe those men were murdered just as clearly as if they had been stabbed to the heart with a knife. The only sign that they bore was a dull red mark . . . behind the ears."

Six men meet at the vicarage of St Crayle one evening to tell each other ghost stories. In particular, it is Martin Burke's tale, one of a homicidal chimera in India, that chills his audience to the bone. Burke believes that the events in the story might be a demonstration of pure evil.

This is soon revealed to be a prophecy of sorts, when one of the men disappears that very night, walking home across Constanton Moor. His body is found a week later, without a mark on him, save a look of sheer terror on his face - and a dull red mark behind his ear.

Cold Evil was first published in 1938. This new edition features an introduction by Steve Barge.