Before the accident that landed him in the hospital, private investigator Ray Lovell had been hired to find Rose Janko, the wife of a charismatic son of a traveling Gypsy family, who went missing seven years earlier. Half Romany himself, Ray is well aware that he's been chosen more for his blood than his investigative skills.

Stef Penney's debut novel, The Tenderness of Wolves, was a national bestseller and the recipient of the prestigious Costa Book Award in 2006. Penney, who was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, is also a screenwriter.