The characters continue to appeal, and I particularly liked the interplay between Penn and Jasper. The team is a family, and in this one Kim really admits that Bryant is a friend. I also liked that both Tracy Frost and Ted Morgan made appearances at Kim's house to show their friendship, even though Kim has not really seen them as such. Teaser alert.... we find out Bryant's real name.. *no spoilers*... how come it had never crossed my mind that in the 16 previous books I never knew his first name? So why not 5 stars if I enjoyed it so much? Well I didn’t really care for the Stacy storyline here. Without going into details for fear of spoilers, I thought the resolution of that story arc was a little silly.

Scarred from an ordeal that nearly took her life, is Kim strong enough to stop a terrifying killer from silencing the clinic’s previous patients one by one? She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s”. Penn is having to learn a few lessons too, relating to loosening the reins on his younger Downs Syndrome brother who is a bit more switched on than Penn realises.

Customer reviews

A 19-year-old man, Jamie Mills, was found hanging from a tree, and the case was written off as suicide. It takes Kim only a short time to find clues confirming he was murdered. His parents seem cold and strangely untroubled by his death. Next, a short time later, 22-year-old Sarah Laing's apparent suicide shows clues that it was a staged murder.

With only twenty-four hours to make every second of Steven’s interrogation count, and scan his behavior for hidden clues, Kim and her team soon link Steven to the abduction of several vulnerable girls – two were kept for a year and then released, unharmed – but where are Melody and the others? Scarred from a previous case that nearly took her life, can Kim unearth the dark secrets within the Gardner family and is she strong enough to stop a terrifying killer silencing the clinic’s previous patients one by one?

A completely gripping crime thriller with a nail-biting twist

Bryant is somewhat responsible for this, deciding that Kim has gotten away with far too much for far too long and gives her a lesson on the meaning and obligations of friendship. And Yay! - we finally learn his first name!