After reading the second and third in the series, I realized I had to read the first to get a better handle on the main character, DC Gary Goodhew. Goodhew is a an enigmatic figure to his fellow detectives and a source of annoyance to his boss, DI Marks, because he follows his own instincts even when they bring him to a dead end. He is a university graduate, a young man who had something of a meteoric rise which annoys one of his fellow detectives in particular, Michael Kincaid. Kincaid is a womanizer and a dandy who spends a lot on expensive clothing and regularly cheats on his wife. Goodhew is just the opposite. He hasn't had a long term relationship since his university days and he doesn't care a bit about what he's wearing or how his hair looks. He has a tiny apartment in a building owned by his grandmother and insists on paying her market rates.

The book opens with a clue to some recent rapes that DI Marks finds on his desk. It was delivered by Gary Goodhew who did it very carefully with no trace of DNA. He gets the information from his grandmother although that is left dangling. In the meantime a pretty young woman named Lorna Spence is found murdered. Her boss and lover had reported her missing and the team soon realizes that the body was indeed the same woman.

This was quite a complicated and interesting mystery. I had an idea of the murderer but not why. It's the story of family secrets and a young woman who likes to play with other peoples' lives. I really like this series. The author's last book was 2017. I hope she has a new one coming.