Though fans will doubtless take comfort in the company of old friends, new readers may not find enough momentum in the beginning to prepare us for the unexpected ending. The narrative picks up at the halfway point, when Maitland stops insisting on drawing spurious connections between Kathy Kolla and murder victim Marion Summers. Kolla has to deal with the usual suspects: the fumbling, perverted stalker, the lecherous, egotistical academic supervisor, the thuggish stepfather and the middle-aged businessman. All are oddly connected by the enigmatic Marion and the secrets Kolla must unravel to solve her murder.

Omniscient authorial observations crop up intermittently, distracting the reader. Many of these are attributed to Maitland’s detectives, and are doubtless intended to reveal character and advance plot, but they seem too convenient: ‘Kathy sensed something equivocal in Rhonda’s voice, as if she didn’t want to be accused of wrongdoing, but at the same time wanted to help.’ Given the problems that Brock and Kolla face with people in their personal lives, it seems doubtful they are able to discern so much from so little.

Fans of Maitland and crime fiction in general will enjoy the way Kolla solves her tenth case. Just watch out for the misplaced cat.