The second-last woman in England - Maggie Joel

1953: Mrs Harriet Wallis is convicted of the murder of her husband, Cecil, and is sentenced to death by hanging.

1952: The Wallises appear to be a conventional household. When the police turn up at the front door on the day a new nanny arrives, so begins a chain of events that will culminate in Cecil's murder. An employee at Cecil's firm has embezzled money and Cecil is implicated. Meanwhile his wife, Harriet, is dismayed by the reappearance of a man she did not expect to see again...

Set in post-war London, we follow a well-to-do family - both inside and outside the house - ruled by strict conventions.