Sophie Gee

They haven't realised its havoc yet.

Having made up her mind, she crept to the door.

The first flight of stairs seemed to promise the only difficulty since the boards were bare and nearly stained, but she let the balusters take her weight and moved gently, feeling her way.

On she goes.

The first landing was very dark.

The bedroom doors were closed and the small circular window, little more than a blur.

But she remembered the design of the house and by following the wall came softly to the top of the graceful winding stairs.

There's the gut Reno detail.

Her overconfidence was almost her undoing.

She put her hand out for the new post, missed it and regained her balance only just in time.

Hovering one foot down, her hand feeling for the rail, she heard him once more.

So it's a delightful, playful little scene, but so of its moment.

Continuity and change, Jonty.

It's deeply comforting to be with these scenes of wonderful stability in lots of ways.

The clothes, the sense of social continuity, despite all the havoc and change.

And at the same time, what we're seeing is that at all times in human history, people have been contending with this sense of

impending doom of a kind of social crisis that can't be resolved.

And they're toggling between those two things.

I think that's the allure of detective, of this particular form, the Queens of Crime detective fiction now.

What do you think?