Jake Sawyer is in demand. With his profile raised after successes in the Peak District, he’s called to London to help the Met Murder Squad with a baffling case which has shocked the nation. A family of four has been tortured and murdered in their upscale Hammersmith home. The crime’s disturbing details are kept private to retain the victims’ dignity and to deter copycats. Starved of hard evidence, the capital’s smartest detectives feed on scraps of speculation. But when the killer strikes again, the pressure mounts to understand his motives and stop him before another tragedy. As Sawyer struggles to settle in the big city and keep his mental health in balance, he follows a private theory about the killer which leads him deep into an urban underworld where secrets rule, and the lines between pleasure and pain are blurred.
Andrew Lowe: “I’ve worked with Bryony on twelve books in total, and we’ve just completed the tenth book in my crime thriller series. It’s a joyful and rewarding creative partnership. Bryony has helped me refine my craft, both in terms of close-up style and big-picture storytelling discipline. She has a copy-editor’s forensic eye for detail but can switch to a reader’s-eye view and tune in to the story’s subtext and emotional impact. Bryony has not only helped me improve and optimise the individual books, she has also worked hard on maintaining consistency and continuity across my series. Her extensive story bible of character profiles and world elements has been indispensable in developing a complex ongoing storyline with multiple narrative threads.”