Young detective Anna Travis has been assigned to her first murder case -- and it couldn't be a more shocking, more horrific set of killings. They began eight years earlier; now the body count is up to six. The method of killing is identical, the backgrounds of the girls very similar -- all of them were drug-using prostitutes. Then a seventh body is found, same modus operandi, but this time the victim is a young student, sweet and innocent, with "the face of an angel." The profile of the murderer has changed dramatically.

Anna stumbles on a vital piece of information that links one man to the killings. A household name, a much-loved actor who is about to become an international movie star -- he has plenty of charm and good looks. Denial and protestations of innocence spring easily and confidently to his lips. An arrest, in the face of intense publicity, would create media frenzy. If he was found beyond doubt to be the wrong man, his career would be finished and Anna's hard-fought-for reputation in the police force destroyed once and for all.

With absolute authenticity and extraordinary power, Lynda La Plante takes us deeper into the criminal mind and the criminal world. And in heroine Anna Travis, she has created another memorable and utterly engaging female detective.