DCI Monika Paniatowski investigates a case that could be the making - or, more likely, breaking - of her career

DCI Monika Paniatowski has only been back from maternity leave for three days when she is called in to investigate a nightmare of a case. Not only is the murder victim a mother of three small children, but her husband is a wealthy politician. Monika knows that if she can't make a quick arrest her career is on the line. It's lucky, then, that within minutes of meeting Councillor Danbury, she has a bruised face - and a prime suspect.

But then the case takes a nasty twist, and suddenly the investigation is national news. Monika's sure she has the right man - but how to prove it? Particularly when she's under pressure from her superiors to arrest anyone other than Councillor Danbury, president of the golf club and friend of her chief constable . . .

A gripping read for those who like British police procedurals with tough, smart heroines * Booklist *

Some deft plot twists, set against the pervasive misogyny of the period, lift this procedural well above the norm