When three dead bodies are discovered in Detective Ian Peterson's hometown of Kent, it becomes clear that a vicious killer is on the loose. And without his trusted colleague, Detective Geraldine Steel, by his side, Ian's left to take the lead on a complex murder case with few clues.

The first victim is a middle-aged woman named Martha, brutally stabbed to death in the local park. Her husband, who did not report her missing, is the prime suspect until a young prostitute, Della, reveals his whereabouts the night Martha was murdered. But then she is strangled to death in her apartment....

A man plummets to his death during the York Races. Despite the large crowds, no witnesses are able to help confirm whether the death was a suicide or a murder. Newly promoted, Detective Ian Peterson is plunged into the complex case that splashes across the headlines. Meanwhile the killer has begun to hunt his next victim, and before long the body count increases. With pressure to solve the crimes mounting, Ian must put aside his personal life despite pressure from his wife. But the killer is following the investigation far more intensely than Ian realizes, and time is running out as the...

'Leigh Russell is one to watch' - LEE CHILD

DI Ian Peterson investigates a series of gruesome and brutal murders. With a madman on the loose attacking women with a deadly but unusual weapon, all of York is on alert. As the body count rises, the case demands all of Ian's ingenuity, because the seemingly random murders are all but clueless.