A gripping and powerful new thriller—the debut of a stunning new voice in suspense fiction—and the first appearance of a tough and remarkable investigator, pathologist, and forensic physician, Dr. Anya Crichton. The only female freelancer in the male-dominated field, pathologist Dr. Anya Crichton will take any work she can find to pay child support and her mortgage, get her new business off the ground, and battle her ex-husband for custody of their three-year-old son. Things turn around rapidly, however, when her expert forensic evidence is instrumental in winning a high-profile case—and new work offers start pouring in. But Anya's investigation into the drug overdose of a young Lebanese girl is raising troubling questions. Startling coincidences between this sad and tragic death and a series of seemingly unrelated suicides that Anya is also examining at the urging of her friend and colleague, detective sergeant Kate Farrer, suggest that there's a monumental evil at work in the shadows. With each scalpel cut, Anya Crichton's forensic prowess and deductive brilliance are pulling her relentlessly toward a sinister plot and a devastating truth—and once she enters the lethal darkness, she may never again see the light of day.

Dr Anya Crichton, pathologist and forensic physician, is back on another chilling case that will stretch her forensic talents to the limit. This time, Anya is on the trail of a violent serial rapist. Suspicion immediately falls on the deviant Geoffrey Willard, recently released from prison after serving a full term for the brutal rape and murder of a fourteen year old girl. As Anya delves deeper into a myriad of forensic evidence, she begins to suspect that Willard is innocent. When two of the victims are later stabbed to death, a blood-smeared shirt holds the key to the truth. Only the killer knows that Anya has made a mistake. One that could prove fatal...

Homicide detective Kate Farrer took a four-month leave from the force when the stress of the job threatened to crush her. Now she's back, at a crime scene as brutal as any she's ever witnessed. The charred corpse of a young woman, burned beyond recognition, smolders on a bed near a bag full of baby items. An autopsy reveals that the victim had recently given birth. Yet no child has been found. Teaming up with a new partner, Oliver Parke, Kate struggles to hold her own demons at bay—while also pursuing leads in the seemingly unrelated affair of a missing teenager who was keeping secrets that may have cost her her life. But as disturbing clues begin linking their two investigations—and another unspeakably cruel murder secures the knot—Kate and Oliver realize with horror that a desperate killer's next victim might be the most innocent one of all.

Due sorelle aggredite nella loro stessa casa. Solo una riesce a salvarsi, ma dovrà rivivere l’inferno al quale è scampata per permettere alla giustizia di fare il suo corso... La ragazza viene trovata in fin di vita sul ciglio della strada, la gola tagliata profondamente. E mentre ancora lotta tra la vita e la morte, la dottoressa Anya Crichton, medico legale incaricata di indagare sul caso, esamina le prove a sua disposizione. Tutte sembrano portare a tre fratelli, gli Harbourn, dei noti criminali non certo nuovi a episodi del genere e famosi per la loro abilità nell’eludere la legge. Anya ha già avuto modo di conoscerli, e sa bene che nemico ha di fronte, ma non si sarebbe mai aspettata di rischiare la sua stessa vita, oltre a quella dei suoi collaboratori e dei testimoni, che vengono uccisi o scompaiono. Ma non può lasciarsi fermare dalla paura, anche se diventerà sempre più difficile mantenere la calma di fronte all’incubo e alle terribili efferatezze che vengono portate alla luce scavando nelle azioni dei tre uomini, pronti a tutto pur di sottrarsi alla giustizia... Un romanzo avvincente, imprevedibile fino all’ultima pagina, tra criminali spietati e una protagonista credibile e ben delineata, che sarà amata non solo dagli appassionati di crime stories, ma anche dai lettori più esigenti, per il realismo delle situazioni e delle indagini scientifiche.

When the victim of a violent gang rape accuses five premier sportsmen of being her attackers, she has no idea that her suffering has only just begun. It's a scandal that rocks a nation of sports fans. But, in spite of a huge amount of evidence, no one seems to believe the girl.

It feels like the safest place on earth. A family-friendly, floating palace. But, as Anya Crichton soon discovers, cruise ships aren't all that they seem...Statistics tell us that a woman is twice as likely to be sexually assaulted on a cruise ship than on dry land. Customers aren't screened, so the ships are a haven for sex offenders and paedophiles. With no policing, and floating in international waters, sexual assaults and passengers 'disappearing' are uncommonly frequent... So when a teenage girl is discovered, dead on the deck of the ship that she is holidaying on, Anya feels compelled to get involved. There's no apparent cause of death, but Anya's forensics expertise uncovers more than the ship's doctors can...or want to. With the killer still on board, and subsequently a crew-member found shot, it becomes clear that the safe haven of the cruise-ship is actually anything but. And, as Anya comes under increasing pressure to abandon her investigations, will she continue? Or do whatever it takes to keep her own family safe?

THE SEVENTH CRIME NOVEL IN THE BRILLIANT ANYA CRICHTON SERIES - A SERIOUS RIVAL TO PATRICIA CORNWELL'S DR KAY SCARPETTA. When forensic pathologist Dr Anya Crichton finds a dead child covered in blood and stuffed into a toy box, her thoughts immediately turn to murder. Then the post mortem reveals that the girl died from a deadly bacterial infection brought on by food poisoning. But does that mean Anya can rule out foul play? Anya was only meant to be in Tasmania for a conference and to visit her mother, but when more people fall sick, including her father's cousin, Anya becomes intimately involved in the case. At the same time, her mother - with whom Anya has always had a difficult relationship ever since her little sister Miriam went missing thirty years ago - is acting strangely, talking about conspiracies and exhibiting classic signs of dementia. As Anya deals with her increasingly paranoid mother, she is also racing to discover the source of the fatal bacterial infection. But Anya's investigations into the close-knit Tasmanian agricultural community where the contaminated food originated soon put her in grave danger as someone tries to kill her. As the deaths pile up, Anya's search leads her to an old murder case, and soon it becomes clear that her own family is closer to danger than ever before. But will Anya be able to discover the truth behind the poisoning and unmask the killer in time to save them, and herself?