The town of Norbold, England is famous for its low crime rate, thanks to the zero-tolerance policy of Chief Superintendent John Fountain. And the newest police recruit, Hazel Best, is happy to help keep it that way. But numbers never tell the whole story, do they? Gabriel Ash receives a cryptic message from Jerome Hardy, who is then found dead. Gabriel is convinced that Jerome was murdered. When Hazel realizes that Gabriel might be right, she must...

"Four years ago, Gabriel Ash was working with the British government investigating hijackings in Somalia. But when his wife and sons disappeared, presumably taken--and probably killed--by pirates, his life fell apart. He has sudden reason to hope when a senior policeman suggests that his sons might still be alive--until that policeman is murdered. Still, there seems to be some link to a local operation, and Ash, no longer a government agent, is determined...

"A kidnap attempt outside the school gates in broad daylight convinces Gabriel Ash that his renegade wife is trying to steal their sons from him. Only the intervention of his friend Constable Hazel Best kept them safe. It's a simple if alarming explanation, but is it the truth? Hazel uncovers disturbing information about another crime, the repercussions of which are still threatening innocent lives seventeen years later. Once again Hazel finds herself...

he three police officers who head up Castlemere's detecting team work together like the parts of a well-oiled machine. Detective Superintendent Frank Shapiro is a thirty-year man who has finally found a detective inspector with the instincts and discipline to complement his experience - Liz Graham. Liz, the first female detective on the force, is now one of its most respected senior officers. Her detective sergeant, the volatile Cal Donovan, possesses...

"When does a secret admirer become a stalker? When chocolates on the doorstep give way to the sound of an intruder on the stairs? When the victim's friends are waylaid in the dark and beaten bloody? When she receives photographs memorializing these events? Or when people start dying? For Constable Hazel Best, the pivot point is the attack on her friend Gabriel Ash. That's when she focuses all her ingenuity on finding the man responsible. Her police...

An unlikelier threesome there may not be. Chief Frank Shapiro's brand of leadership, while not flashy or heroic, is nevertheless unquestioned. Inspector Liz Graham has risen in the ranks higher and faster than most women in the British police system, and has had to allow the boys of Castlemere CID time to get used to her - most especially Sergeant Cal Donovan, whose surly Irish manner means his bark is just as bad as his bite. A year into their partnership,...