Jared Kilton is a famous chef. Charming. Charismatic. Psychopathic... He is serving a life sentence for the violent murder of his daughter, Elizabeth. Her body was never found and Kilton was mainly convicted due to the testimony of Detective Washington Poe.

When a young woman appears at an isolated police station with compelling evidence that she is Elizabeth Kilton, Poe becomes the subject of an investigation that could cost him more than his career.

With the help of the only person he trusts, the brilliant but socially awkward Tilly Bradshaw, Poe will try to quickly find an answer to the most important question: how can someone be dead and alive at the same time?

And then Elizabeth disappears again - and the investigation leads to Poe.

After "The Puppet Show," which won the CWA Gold Dagger award for the best crime novel of 2019, M.W. Craven returns with the second thrilling case of Detective Washington Poe.

"Black Summer" was nominated for the CWA Gold Dagger in 2020.