Three muffled thuds ring from the partially filled grave of the newly wed girl.

Only the verger hears them and he dismisses the noise as his imagination. But over the next few days others also hear faint sounds.

An exhumation order is granted. Reporter Kate Hemingway sneaks into the small suburban churchyard when the coffin is opened, and the scene she witnesses is so horrific she can never forget it. As she starts work on the story, Kate finds herself caught up in a sinister and macabre cover-up.

At the centre is a respected anaesthetist who has a secret obsession. He believes people can exist outside their bodies and that if he can prove it he will provide the answer to the question that has haunted mankind through the ages: is there life after death?

Nothing - and no one - is going to stand in the way of his driving ambition . . .

'Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business.' Karin Slaughter

'Well-researched, chillingly executed and eminently readable.' Sunday Times

Read more from the multi-million copy bestselling author of the Roy Grace novels:

Possession

Dreamer

Sweet Heart

Twilight

Prophecy

Host

Alchemist

Denial

The Truth

Faith

* Each Peter James novel can be read as a standalone*