First published in the U.K. in 1996, the engrossing third entry in Maitland's series to feature David Brock and Kathy Kolla (Spider Trap
, etc.) is at last available in the U.S. The day before Kathy begins her new job in Scotland Yard's Serious Crime Branch, she gets a call from her superior, Chief Inspector Brock, that her detective services are needed sooner than expected. Angela Hannaford, a pleasant young woman who taught Sunday school, has been brutally stabbed to death in her parents' South London home, her face mutilated. Kathy, who becomes the head of the investigating team, traces clues to other recent murders of women who all eerily resemble one another, and soon discovers that a theater troupe may be the critical link in the Hannaford case. But as Kathy moves closer to finding the perpetrator, she also inches closer to danger. Maitland does a fine job developing complex, interesting characters within a sinister, well-paced plot. (Sept.)
