Judith Cutler

Comfortably single, at the peak of her career and with enough money to enjoy herself, life is good for Beth - until her teenage niece Emma comes to stay. Then, as Emma sets her sights on the only eligible bachelor around, all hell breaks loose.

Chief Superintendent Frances Harman has been assigned the case of Elise, in a coma two years after a severe beating. Is this, alongside the case of a child abduction, plus the growing frailty of her own parents, too much for one person to handle?

Rebuilding her career outside of London after a personal tragedy, Birmingham DS Kate Power tackles a series of child killings, a case that is complicated by the chauvinistic attitudes of her co-workers.