Synopsis: One by one the girls disappeared…
When the frail body of a teenage girl is discovered strangled in a parking lot, shards of ice form in Detective Natalie Ward’s veins. As Natalie looks at the freckles scattered on her cheeks and the pale pink lips tinged with blue, she remembers that this innocent girl is somebody’s daughter…
The girl is identified as missing teenager Amelia Saunders, who has run away from home and her controlling father. Natalie’s heart sinks further when it becomes clear that Amelia has been working on the streets, manipulated by her violent new boyfriend Tommy.
A day later, another vulnerable girl is found strangled on a park bench. Like Amelia, Katie Bray was a runaway with connections to Tommy, and Natalie is determined to find him and track down the monster attacking these scared and lonely girls.
But when a wealthy young woman is found murdered the next morning, the word ‘guilty’ scrawled on her forehead, Natalie realises that the case is more complex than she first thought. Determined to establish a connection between her three victims, Natalie wastes no time in chasing down the evidence, tracing everyone who crossed their paths. Then, a key suspect’s body turns up in the canal, a mole in Natalie’s department leaks vital information and everything seems to be against her. Can Natalie stop this clever and manipulative killer before they strike again?
My Rating: 4/5
My Review: Things have changed greatly over the course of the last 6 books and as a new case is brought to the team everybody has different roles. Natalie is now DCI and as such this means Lucy Carmichael steps up to run and oversee the investigation. It was strange to see them in new roles and it was clear from the characters that this certainly isn’t an easy adjustment for any of them.
The absolute worst case possible is also the first for Natalie to oversee and Lucy to run with the death of a teenage girl. As usual the team all get stuck in, and although I feared Natalie wouldn’t be as involved it soon became apparent that she most certainly would be. For me one of the strengths about this series is the fantastic balance between the crimes being committed and the personal lives of all the characters.
We get to see Natalie adjusting to now living with Mike following the breakdown of her marriage. We also get glimpses of the team working the case and this is what makes for such an interesting and easy to read book by Wyer. This storyline in terms of the murder team wasn’t necssarily my favourite but as usual there is plenty of action going on and as areader you feel totally engaged. Another highly enjoyable book in this series.
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