Miami Beach Detective Sam Becket has had to attend plenty of crime scenes, but none like this. On the face of it, the double homicide of Arnold and Marie Robbins looks like just another brutal murder - except that Cathy Robbins, Marie's teenage daughter, is lying between the bodies, blood-drenched, traumatized but otherwise unharmed. The big question: is the teenager just a silent witness to the slaying, or does Becket have to contemplate the horrific possibility that Cathy may be a killer?

From her first meeting with Cathy, child psychologist Dr Grace Lucca knows it's going to be a struggle to stay detached. But as Grace lays bare the earlier traumas of her young patient's abused childhood, her guilt becomes more probable; and as more victims are murdered, each with an intimate link to the teenager, Sam Becket no longer has any alternative but to arrest her.

Determined to try to prove Cathy's innocence, Grace is drawn ever deeper into a nightmare scenario of aberrant psychology and terrifying revelations. Before long, Sam – who's come to consider Grace far more than a colleague - fears that she may be risking more than her reputation. She could also be risking her life...

An enthralling read'
Gerald Kaufmann , The Scotsman

'A gripping read that keeps you guessing'
Woman's Own

'An absorbing, cleverly constructed thriller by
an ever-popular British writer'
Books Magazine

Published by Piatkus Books 1999 in hardback and paperback
Audio edition (read by the author) in cassette and CD, Magna 2002

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