Morgan kneels beside the fluttering crime scene tape. Their hands clasped, the couple’s embrace looks loving and warm, but an icy chill grips the air. Their lips are blue, and blood is dripping on the floor. They have been silenced forever…

When sweet-natured teaching assistant Rosie Waite, and her boyfriend Matt, are found dead in their quaint family home in the Lake District, Detective Morgan Brookes is horrified. Sleeping just two doors down, she heard no screams for help, no slamming doors, or alarms in the night. A twisted killer nailed the couple’s lips shut, and Morgan vows to keep watch over every innocent family in Rydal Falls until this monster is brought to justice.

Climbing the narrow attic staircase as she searches every inch of the property, Morgan finds a mattress on the floor, empty food wrappers, and a letter that reads: if you’ve found this, you’re next to die. Fear washes over Morgan’s team; the killer was watching his victims, and now her life is at risk.

Ignoring pleas that she take a step back, Morgan throws herself harder at the case discovering that the nails used to bind the victims’ lips were pierced with expert equipment. And Matt had been asking questions at a local tattoo parlour. Everyone thought he and Rosie were a quiet, kind-hearted couple, but was Matt hiding a dangerous secret? Did he betray the woman he loved?

It’s the break Morgan desperately needs, until one of her closest friends is attacked. His lifeless body, crimson with blood, left surrounded by jagged nails – an exact match to the ones pierced into Matt and Rosie. The killer has been watching from the shadows again. Morgan’s used to putting her life on the line to protect the innocent, but what must she sacrifice to save the people she loves most? And how many precious lives will be lost before she can stop this killer?

A must-read and an unstoppable thrill-ride. Fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Rachel McLean will be blown away by the heart-racing tension in this absolutely unputdownable crime thriller.

What readers are saying about Helen Phifer:

‘Wow!!!… I did NOT in a million years see THAT coming!!!… I smashed this in one sitting and could not sleep until I finished it which ended up being 3am!!!… Absolutely unputdownable page-turning book… Absolutely LOVED IT… I was just gobsmacked by the twist… Will stay with me for a long time.’ Bookworm86, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I devoured it over two evenings (I was working both days or I'd have read it quicker) – and I stayed up until WAY past my bedtime on the first night because I didn't want to put it down!’ Urban Sapphire, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I read this book in one sitting… I was hooked from the first page… OMG what a case… a real rollercoaster of a read… will get your heart pumping. I absolutely loved it.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘My heart is still pounding hours after the last page. Oh my God what a heart-stopping read… I had goosebumps. I had chills… It grabs you from page one… hold tight until the last page and beyond.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘What a book!… I found myself holding my breath and having to read the last few chapters on into the early hours of the morning because I just needed to find out what happened.’ Mrs Bloggs’ Books, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐