LINDA LAPLANTE

Duty to the job or personal ambition? Anna Travis must decide where her loyalties lie ...Six months ago, London nightclub owner Josh Reynolds was found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head, the gun held in his right hand. His death was quickly determined to be a suicide, the investigation was closed ...a case done and dusted. Until now. A young man, awaiting trial for armed robbery has informed his guards that Reynolds was murdered, and that he has information to share with the police. DCS James Langton tasks DCI Anna Travis to review the case. As soon as she wraps up the investigation, Langton tells Anna, she can join him at the FBI Academy in Virginia for training. Meanwhile, Senior FBI Agent, Jessie Dewar, crime scene expert, is seconded to Anna's team as part of her research. Dewar's brash manner soon ruffles feathers among the MET, and what should have been a simple case of tying up loose ends becomes a political nightmare as the competence of the original investigation team is questioned. Anna's trip to America is approaching, but now that the situation at the MET has become so volatile, can she trust Dewar to finish the job in her absence?

A motorway service station on the M1: dimly lit, run down, poorly supervised, flickering lights, dark corners; a favourite stopover for long-distance lorry drivers. Behind it, a body is found in a ditch, that of a girl barely out of her teens. She appears to have no family, no friends, no connections. Anna Travis is assigned the case.

Lynda La PlanteHot young British film star Amanda Delany had the world at her feet. Never one for the quiet life, she'd had a string of affairs with famous actors, making perfect fodder for the tabloids...Then came a commission to write a tell-all memoir. When Amanda is found brutally murdered, the suspects are lining up - from jealous ex-flatmates to famous lovers to a corrupt agent. As DCI James Langton leads his team in an extensive enquiry, they discover the sad truth behind Amanda's successful facade. An autopsy reveals that she was addicted to drugs and starvation diets. Amanda's parents are a cold, unemotional couple who hushed up the fact that their daughter once almost died from a botched abortion. And it is revealed that her massive earnings were being swallowed up in a City fraud. Meanwhile, DI Anna Travis is up for promotion, but her boss DCI James Langton is blocking her, with an accusation of professional misconduct. This latest case, her toughest challenge so far, could make or break Anna's career.