Every summer, four friends gather at Barnes Fair to ride the carousel in memory of Esther, the school friend they lost in a car crash they all survived as teenagers. This year, the morning after the fair, one of those friends is found murdered on that very carousel. DI Garibaldi's on the case and he has questions to ask. Who killed Shelley Bowles? And why did they kill her there? Is Shelley's murder connected to the traumatic event the friends have commemorated each year at the fair? Or will answers be found closer to home in Barnes where Shelley was well-known but had made some enemies. And how significant are the painted horses of the carousel itself and the recent animal rights protests? As Garibaldi pieces together the events of that summer night, he uncovers dark undercurrents beneath Barnes's genteel village surface, and he realises that we are all riding the carousel of time, unable to escape the consequences of the past