"He's a serial killer. A murderer of young women, all killed in brutal attacks. But despite Hamish Wolfe's conviction, he's always stuck to his story--he's innocent and he's been wrongly imprisoned. And now he wants someone to investigate and, more importantly, to write his story. Maggie Rose is a notorious defense attorney and writer whose specialty is getting convictions overturned. At first, Maggie is reluctant to even acknowledge Hamish's requests...

"Sharon Bolton returns with her creepiest standalone yet, following a young cop trying to trace the disappearances of a small town's teenagers. Florence Lovelady's career was made when she convicted coffin-maker Larry Grassbrook of a series of child murders 30 years ago in a small village in Lancashire. Like something out of a nightmare, the victims were buried alive Florence was able to solve the mystery and get a confession out of Larry before more...

Just before dawn in the hills near the Scottish border, a man murders a young woman. At the same time, a hot-air balloon crashes out of the sky. There's just one survivor. She's seen the killer's face - but he's also seen hers. And he won't rest until he's eliminated the only witness to his crime. Alone, scared, trusting no one, she's running to where she feels safe - but it could be the most dangerous place of all.

"Now living in a houseboat on the River Thames, Lacey Flint is becoming a part of London's weird and wonderful riverboat community. But at dawn one hot summer morning, Lacey finds the body of a shrouded young woman in the river. She assumes it was chance--after all she's recently joined the marine policing unit--but further investigation leads her team to suspect it was deliberately left for her to find. She is no longer a detective, but as she begins...

Like everyone reading the newspapers these days, Barney Roberts knows the killer will strike again soon. It will be another boy just like him. There will be no clues for London detectives Dana Tulloch and Mark Joesbury to find. There will be no warning. There will be no real reason for Barney's friend and neighbor, Lacey Flint, on leave from her job as a London police detective, to become involved . . . and no chance that she can stay away.

Stumbling onto a murder scene that a reporter likens to the crimes of Jack the Ripper, young detective constable Lacey Flint races against time to prevent additional deaths and realizes that the killer is taunting her with secrets from her past.

"A golden summer, and six talented friends are looking forward to the brightest of futures - until a daredevil game goes horribly wrong, and a woman and two children are killed.18-year-old Megan takes the blame, leaving the others free to get on with their lives. In return, they each agree to a 'favor', payable on her release from prison. Twenty years later Megan is free. Let the games begin."--