On a cool June morning, Isa Wilde, a resident of the seemingly idyllic coastal village of Salten, is walking her dog along a tidal estuary. Before she can stop him, Isa's dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick--and to her horror, she discovers it's not a stick at all, but a human bone. As her three best friends from childhood converge in Salten to comfort a seriously shaken-up Isa, terrifying discoveries are made, and their collective history slowly unravels.

"The text message arrives in the small hours of the night. It's just three words: I need you. Isa drops everything, takes her baby daughter and heads straight to Salten. She spent the most significant days of her life at boarding school on the marshes there, days which still cast their shadow over her. At school Isa and her three best friends used to play the Lying Game. They competed to convince people of the most outrageous stories. Now, after seventeen years of secrets, something terrible has been found on the beach. Something which will force Isa to confront her past, together with the three women she hasn't seen for years, but has never forgotten. Theirs is no cosy reunion: Salten isn't a safe place for them. Not after what they did. It's time for the women to get their story straight..."--Provided by the publisher.

From the number one New York Times best selling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood; The Woman in Cabin 10; The Lying Game; and The Death of Mrs. Westaway comes Ruth Ware's highly anticipated fifth novel.