Out walking during an early spring thaw in the desolate countryside of upper Vermont, Catherine Winslow discovers the body of a woman leaning against an apple tree. The woman, reported missing during a blizzard weeks earlier, is believed to be the latest victim of a serial killer who, Catherine soon discovers, seems to be modelling his killings on an extremely rare, unfinished Wilkie Collins novel that has been in her library until she suddenly finds it missing. Complicating this confusion, Catherine's much younger lover from a failed affair has unexpectedly resurfaced and is trying to manoeuvre his way back into her life. Elegant, haunting and profoundly gripping, Cloudland is an ingenious psychological trap baited with murder, deception and the intricacies of desire.