Fans of Laurie R. King have applauded her fascinating portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. Now the Edgar Award–winning author begins an intricate but hard-boiled crime series, spinning a masterful tale that deftly unveils the multiple layers of her intriguing characters.

When?Kate Martinelli, an ambitious rookie, is teamed up with reluctant veteran detective Al Hawkin, they must put aside any reservations they have about each other as they hunt for a sadist who is strangling six-year-old girls. All the clues

point to an artist who has been convicted of a similar crime. But when the evidence begins to look too obvious, Martinelli and Hawkin are forced to use the immensely talented but emotionally fragile artist as bait for the real killer.

King keeps the thread of suspense taut as the precarious investigation twists and turns ever tighter around the obsessive core of a monstrous psychopath.