In this riveting sequel to British author Murphy's Darkness Falls
(2004), criminal lawyer Clara Pascal reluctantly gets drawn into a grisly murder case. Photography teacher Amy Dennis is found brutally slain with her unharmed baby upstairs. Plenty of circumstantial evidence and a familiar MO put Ian Clemence, who was Dennis's student, in the frame for the crime. Clara finds herself defending Clemence, despite prevailing police sentiment about the belligerent ex-con whose hardened exterior earns him enemies on both sides of the law. Dennis also happened to be looking into a shady multimillion-pound real estate deal rife with political maneuvering, a notorious underworld figure and at least one bent cop. When one of the players in the development deal gets shot during an alleged mugging, Pascal finds it too much of a coincidence. Murphy tantalizes the reader as she effortlessly weaves the story lines and sustains the tension until the end. Fresh takes on whodunit standards and insight into the minds of the fully realized characters make this an excellent psychological thriller. Agent, Jane Gregory (U.K.). (July)
