Sewell's unwieldy second novel of psychological suspense may disappoint fans of her 2008 debut, Ice Trap
. After Madeleine Frank's husband is killed during a hurricane at their Key West home, she moves to Bath, England, where she becomes a psychotherapist. When a new client, Rachel Locklear, describes her relationship with her ex-lover, pimp and father of her son, Madeleine at first assumes it's a case of domestic abuse. But as Rachel opens up further, Madeleine realizes that their lives may be intertwined in a bond that could have fatal consequences. The heroine's Cuban-born mother, who was once a powerful Santera
but now suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and is institutionalized in the U.K., offers psychic predictions about Madeleine that don't enhance our understanding of her thinly drawn character. A couple of unnecessary subplots involve Madeleine's fascination with ants and her prison sessions with a murderer who's little more than a watered-down Hannibal Lecter. (Feb.)
