A murder mystery with a very intricate plot, an unexpected and very dark departure from Ms Brand’s other suspense stories. 

Jane Gale witnessed her mother’s murder as a child, and was almost killed while escaping. Twenty-five-years later, and she’s still suffering from amnesia and the disabilities left from the experience. Jane has written a best selling novel, and has no idea where the plot came from. Intriguing flashes from the past and a persistent fan stalker, induce her to travel back to Louisiana where it all her nightmares began. The book catches the eye of the serial killer, who doesn’t know Jane has no memory of what she witnessed. He begins planning her death and another circle of killings begin to happen.  

Jane finds her one link to the past, the boy in the photograph. John Toussaint is now a police officer with no recollection of her, but feels strangely linked to her on a passionate level. When the fan stalker also begins, acting out his threats, it’s even harder to link the incidents, until even the police begin to think she’s paranoid. 

Jane becomes caught up in the investigation, on a personal level when Toussaint appoints himself as her bodyguard. The closer they get the more traps are set for Jane to be killed, as they both becomes targets. 

A very deep psychological story as the reader is taken deep into the deranged mind of a serial killer. It also show’s how easy it is to become a killer if you have a certain kind of home life? The plot is convoluted keeping the reader moving along and wanting to unravel the mystery, learning what was going on and why. The main characters were interesting, and the main antagonists were seriously flawed. 

The budding romance was clear and satisfying, with in depth and tender love scenes, to offset the bleakness of the story. The story went deep into the souls of the characters, and the scenes often sizzled with awareness. The characters often did the unexpected, keeping the reader on their toes. There were many side steps as the Dexter brothers’ story was twisted through the main plot. It was a different way of looking at murder, especially serial killers and what motivates them. The gypsum clue and the taking of the victims hair was gruesome but a little different as an MO. Jane not realizing she has set in motion another spate of murders was interesting. The author has done some solid research to make this novel feel and read authentically. The ending was edge of the seat stuff, but well constructed. With so many loose ends needing to be tied off Ms Brand still managed to pull it all together with style.

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