An electrifying game of cat-and-mouse between an imprisoned mastermind and a crime writer with a hidden past.

     April Willis is walking to school when someone in a white van tries to snatch her from the street. It’s the second attack in less than a week and, with parents and students beginning to panic, it’s down to Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel to find the culprit. This short story takes place between the Jessica Daniel novels Playing With Fire and Thicker Than Water.

    One stranger. One killer…Two bad things happened that summer:A stranger arrived. And the first girl disappeared. In the wake of the crime that rocked her community, Felicity fled, knowing more than she let on. But sixteen years later, her new life is shattered by the news that a second girl has gone missing in her hometown. Now Felicity must go back, to face the truth about what happened all those years ago. Only she holds the answers – and they’re more shocking than anyone could imagine. The heatwave is back. And so is the killer.

    Five years ago Harlan headed up the investigation of an identical murder in the same woods; a mishandled investigation that effectively destroyed his credibility as a detective. The new case immediately takes a bizarre twist when the body is identified as the same girl found hanging in the woods five years ago. The following day a local man commits suicide and the police find more dead girls hidden in his basement. The case seems open and closed. Until the killing spree begins. Harlan finds himself drawn into a dark world where murder is a form of self-expression and human life treated as one more commodity to be used and discarded. The only clue that links everything is a large oil painting of ‘Sagittarius A’ – a massive black hole at the centre of the galaxy orbited by thirteen stars daubed in blood with the words – Heart SwarmThis edition is no longer available.

    Some want the 'paedo killer' locked up forever. Others think he's a hero. Either way, now it's DI Tom McAllister's job to catch the elusive murderer.Not your ordinary police detective, Tom's a maverick outsider who always gets his man. But with the case spiralling out of control and the killer seemingly always one step ahead, he finds himself drawn into a deadly game of deception that threatens to destroy more than just his career. But the worst is yet to come, as the horrifying truth begins to emerge about the significance of THE CAGE . . .If you're a fan of smart, fast-paced detective thrillers with a twist, the first of Scott Mariani's sensational new DI Tom McAllister series will have you on the edge of your seat and yearning for more!