A man takes part in a very unusual bet, a wife serves up a dish that utterly baffles the police, a game of cards between two couples is the basis for some shocking deceit. . . Deception highlights a domestic familiarity always on the edge of something much, much darker. Collected together for the first time, stories include My Lady Love, My Dove, Mildenhall Treasure, The Parson’s Pleasure, Henry Sugar, The Umbrella Man, The Bookseller, Vengeance is Mine Inc., Lamb to the Slaughter and Mr Botibol Man from the South.