Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, newly married (at last), are approaching a crossroads in their relationship. For the past two months, Gemma has taken a leave of absence from her demanding police job to care for the couple's new foster child, two-year-old Charlotte, who came into their lives in the course of investigating their previous case. Kincaid is poised to become the fragile Charlotte's primary caregiver during his own family leave from Scotland Yard, scheduled to start in a matter of days.
"Complex, multifaceted and genuinely surprising, the mystery (or should I say mysteries) will keep readers turning pages and second-guessing themselves right up until the final pages."
But first, a case falls into Kincaid's lap that threatens to throw the couple's domestic plans --- not to mention their wedded bliss --- into disarray. Becca Meredith, a well-respected (if not exactly well-liked) police sergeant turns up dead in the Thames, near the racing scull in which she'd been training for her rowing comeback, with an eye toward the 2012 Olympic Games.
At first, suspects seem few and far between, but soon Kincaid has more suspects than he knows what to do with, including some potential angles that could have huge repercussions all through the law enforcement ranks. Perhaps Becca's murderer is her ex-husband (and sole beneficiary) Freddie, a former rower fixated on his glory days…and on the woman he never stopped loving. Or perhaps it's Kieran, Becca's secret lover, an Iraq War veteran whose love for her keeps him sane…and borders on obsession. Or perhaps Becca's colleagues at the police station, jealous over her potential paid leave of absence to train for the Olympics, let their envy get the better of them.
What's more, Gemma (who has been chomping at the bit to get back to her own investigations) starts doing her own research, coming at the question from a