Verdict Unsafe

In a brooding English procedural, Detective Inspector Judy Hill (A Shred of Evidence, 1996) fights personal and professional battles with a sexual predator. Colin Drummond has beaten the rap on several rape charges. His confession to Hill was disallowed at trial and, although convicted with DNA evidence, he went free when an appeals court found insufficient corroboration, plus misconduct by two policemen. Now Drummond is following Hill and hinting that she could be his next target. He also shadows previous victims, including Ginny Fredericks, a young prostitute who often entertains Rob Jarvis, who hasn't been able to make love to his wife since her grim encounter with the rapist. Meanwhile, an investigation of Drummond's original arrest casts suspicion on Hill, who has only DCI Lloyd, her lover as well as her boss, to defend her integrity. The story begins slowly and sometimes mires itself in pitiful details of the rape victims' lives. But McGown turns the tables with two midpoint surprises that suddenly make many of the players more important than they had appeared, while dramatically upping the stakes for Hill. The pace is methodical and the cast cheerless, but McGown wraps her grim tale in a complex, satisfying solution. (June)