2. Frozen by Lindsay Jayne Ashford

The West Midlands police call in forensic psychologist/profiler Megan Rhys of Heartland University to help develop a profile of a serial killer or killers when two prostitutes of the Birmingham area are found dead. The problem is that two different blood types are found on the victims, meaning there could be two killers, one who may be a bad vice cop known to frequent area prostitutes. At the same time, a popular female newscaster, Delva Lobelo, has been getting a series of bizarre and obscene letters, including one with a picture of a shackled girl who later turns up dead. Is the letter sender a co-worker at the BTV station? Could that person be Megan’s brother-in-law, Neil, who works with Delva and has a history of not believing Megan (Megan was raped years ago by a friend of Neil, and Neil refused to believe he was guilty of the crime)?

As the two cases become connected, Megan must try to convince the Birmingham police of her thoughts on the cases. Although complicated and confusing at times, this is a very dark and gritty crime story. Ashford is a former journalist and the first woman to graduate from Queen’s College Cambridge with a master’s degree in criminology. Other Megan Rhys series books are available in the UK, where I will be looking for them during a trip over this spring.