Elizabeth George "reigns as the queen of the mystery genre", raves Entertainment Weekly, which named her novel In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner one of the 10 best books of 1999. The author who has enthralled millions with masterworks of dazzling novels of literary suspense returned with her most astonishing work yet.

"Ms. George proves that the classiest of crime writers are true novelists," proclaimed the New York Times, and each of her previous 10 novels had been an instant international best-seller. With A Traitor to Memory, George returned to the themes that had made her a master of the genre she had made distinctly her own - the classic detective story that is also a richly rewarding tapestry of passion, loyalty, and betrayal. She is a writer like no other, and her novels mark a magnificent literary achievement.

"To listen is to be, but to play is to live...." So believes Gideon Davies, 28-year-old musical wunderkind, a virtuoso violinist whose talents are internationally celebrated. When Gideon finds himself center stage, unable to play, his tortured search for his music - and for the truth behind the appalling event that shaped his life - will lead him to the very heart of love's darkest manifestations.