A need to kill

The body of Marsha Freeman – known professionally as Trudi Jameson – is discovered inside a lockup in Putney. She has been brutally beaten, burned repeatedly with cigarette ends, and strangled with a pair of tights. An ex-model, Marsha had latterly been working as a high-class prostitute, with clients including politicians, well-known celebrities and captains of industry.All that has been taken by her killer are three pages that have been removed from a potentially career-destroying address book.The Serious Crimes Unit is given the case, due to Marsha’s murder being the second carried out with the same MO. Both victims were prostitutes and redheads.Detective Inspector Matt Barnes is assigned to head up the investigation, due in part to his previous success in running down repeat killers.Matt, and Beth Holder – a criminal psychologist who consults on certain serial and ritual murder cases – are in love, but Matt’s almost fanatical dedication to his work is threatening the future that they both want to share together. Beth is in New York City attending a seminar, and is treating it as time-out to seriously consider her relationship with Matt.With Marsha Freeman’s address book, video found at her apartment featuring her with clients, and bruise impressions on both corpses that have been made by an embossed ring depicting the head of a wolf or similar animal, Matt and his team begin the task of interviewing Marsha’s contacts, that include more than one high-ranking cop.Why was Marsha carrying her address book, which is not even in code? And what is motivating the psycho who Matt is convinced will strike again? Is the perpetrator’s name on one of the pages that was torn from the book, or is the as yet unknown killer planning to add blackmail to his repertoire?