Hamburg State Prosecutor Chastity Riley becomes involved in the horrifying, chilling search for a violent serial killer targeting dancers from a club ? the first book in an award-winning, wildly original, addictive series?

? Such a revelation? Laura Lippman

? Gruesome and assured, Buchholz? s work remains as persuasive as ever? Barry Forshaw, Financial Times

? Reading Buchholz is like walking on firecrackers ? a truly unique voice in crime fiction? Graeme Macrae Burnet

? Unpredictable, shocking and funny ? Simone Buchholz is my favourite German crime writer? Mark Sanderson, The Times

**WINNER of the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger**

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A serial killer is on the loose in Hamburg, targeting dancers from The Acapulco, a club in the city? s red-light district, taking their scalps as gruesome trophies and replacing them with plastic wigs.

Chastity Riley is the state prosecutor responsible for crimes in the district, and she? s working alongside the police as they investigate. Can she get inside the mind of the killer?

Her strength is thinking like a criminal; her weaknesses are pubs, bars and destructive relationships, but as Chastity searches for love and a flamboyant killer ? battling her demons and the dark, foggy Hamburg weather ? she hits dead end after dead end.

As panic sets in and the death toll rises, it becomes increasingly clear that it may already be too late. For everyone?

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? Caustic, incisive prose. A street-smart, gutsy heroine. A timely and staggeringly stylish thriller? Will Carver

? The coolest character in crime fiction ? Darkly funny and written with a huge heart? Doug Johnstone, Big Issue

? Modern noir, with taut storytelling, a hard-bitten heroine, and underlying melancholy peppered with wry humour? New Zealand Listener

? Dark, atmospheric, and complex, with often surprisingly emotional ? a classy piece of fiction from an author who never disappoints? Jen Med? s Book Reviews

Praise for the Chastity Riley series:

'Combines nail-biting tension with off-beat humor ... Elmore Leonard fans will be enthralled' Publishers Weekly

'Buchholz doles out delicious black humor ... interwoven in a manner that ramps up the intrigue and tension' Foreword Reviews

? Lyrical and pithy' Sunday Times

'Fierce enough to stab the heart' Spectator

'A real blast of adrenaline' Big Issue

'Simone Buchholz writes with real authority and a pungent, noir-ish sense of time and space' Financial Times

'A stylish, whip-smart thriller' Russel McLean