In January 1931, on a lonely stretch of Northumberland road known as Wolf's Nick, flames rose up into the night sky from the neighbouring moorland.

Beyond help, Evelyn Foster lay engulfed in flames near her burning car, desperately hoping to be found by a passing vehicle.

With her last breath, she described her assailant: a mysterious man with a bowler hat who had asked her to drive him to the next village, then attacked her and left her to die.

What followed was a remarkable effort by some members of the police to track down Evelyn's killer while other members of the force questioned the circumstances, Evelyn's character and if there was even a man at all.

Professional crime writer and lecturer Diane Janes gained unprecedented access to Evelyn's case files. Through her evocative description, gift for storytelling and detailed factual narrative, Diane takes the reader back to the scene of the crime, painting a vivid picture of village life and the social attitudes of the 1930s.

Central to this tragic tale is a daughter, sister and friend who lost her life in an unspeakably horrific way, and the likely name of her murderer, revealed for the first time... 90 years after her death.