Murder was always an insult. But the murder, bloody and brutal, of an entire family in their own home, was a different form of evil.

Nixie Swisher crept down the stairs for a drink - and saved her own life. When Lieutenant Eve Dallas is called to the house minutes later, she finds the whole family murdered in their beds. But the killers made a mistake: they left a survivor.

Nixie saw everything. And unfortunately for her, these elite killers soon realise they need to finish the job. So Eve and her billionaire husband Roarke give everything they can to keep Nixie safe in their own home.

And then a terrifying climax reveals there may be more to Nixie than meets the eye . . .

Murder harboured no bigotry, no bias. It subscribed to no class system. In its gleeful, deadly way, murder turned a blind eye.

Scandalous death sells papers. But as the media frenzy feeds on the wealthy Thomas Anders, strangled to death with black velvet in his plush Park Avenue apartment, Lieutenant Eve Dallas grapples with just one question: a crime of passion or a cold extermination?

Things don't add up. The victim didn't struggle and everyone has an alibi. And when a throwaway comment opens up a horrifying secret, Eve is fighting for far more than justice.

'Keeps you guessing to the end' Sun

Book Twenty-Six in the New York Times number one bestselling series

'If you're a crime fiction fan and haven't discovered them yet, welcome to the very best day of your life' Heat Magazine

In this brand new thriller in the Sunday Times bestselling series, Lieutenant Eve Dallas races to untangle a twisted family history while a hostage's life hangs in the balance

Say goodnight, baby darling

Three young women have gone missing. They're all pretty, mid-twenties - someone clearly has a type. But no one links their disappearances until the first - Lauren Elder - is found lying peacefully on a bench in a children's playground. She is neatly dressed with a wide black velvet ribbon covering where her neck has been precisely slit. Her hands are folded over a childish sign on which is written in black crayon - BAD MOMMY.

Lt Eve Dallas and her team are brought in to investigate Lauren's murder and uncover the links to the other two women. Can they find out enough about the missing women and unmask their captor before they kill again....?

Inside the paralysed shell, she struggled, she strained. She looked up into the eyes of her killer. Into the eyes of a friend. Why?

Every cop gets angry when a police officer is killed. And Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no exception. Throwing every resource into solving Amarylis Coltraine's brutal murder, Eve encounters bitter opposition from Coltraine's fellow officers, who are desperate to take over the case. But when Eve receives a strange parcel containing Coltraine's badge and gun together with a note threatening the imminent arrival of her own ID, she knows the case has just got personal.

Then a link to millionaire Alex Ricker, son of a criminal she had put behind bars, heats things up even further. Ricker was romantically involved with Amarylis - did she leak information to him and then have a change of heart? Eve must put herself in extreme danger to get to the truth . . .

Crime and punishment is Lieutenant Eve Dallas's business. Murder her speciality. Named by the social worker who found her when she was a mere child roaming that city's streets, Eve Dallas is a New York police detective who lives for her job. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all - and knows her survival depends on her instincts. But she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, a charismatic Irish billionaire - and a suspect in Eve's latest murder investigation.

But passion and seduction have rules of their own, and it's up to Eve to take a chance in the arms of a man she knows nothing about - except the addictive hunger of needing his touch.

At the luxurious Roarke Palace Hotel, a maid walks into suite 4602 for the nightly turndown - and steps into her worst nightmare. A killer leaves her dead, strangled by a thin, silver wire. He's Sly Yost, a virtuoso of music and murder; a hit man for the elite.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows him well. But in this twisted case, knowing the killer doesn't help solve the crime. Because there's someone else involved. Someone with a very personal motive. And Eve must face a terrifying possibility that the real target may, in fact, be her husband, Roarke.

The dead were her business. She lived with them, worked with them, studied them. She dreamed of them. Murder no longer shocked, but it continued to repel.

The first victim is found lying on a sidewalk in the rain. The second murdered in her own apartment building. Both have had their throats slashed.

New York City homicide lieutenant Eve Dallas has no problem finding connections between the two crimes. Both women were beautiful and successful; their glamorous lives and loves the talk of the city. And their intimate relations with powerful men provide Eve with a long list of suspects - including her own lover, Roarke.

As a woman, Eve is compelled to trust the man who shares her bed. But as a cop, it's her job to follow every lead, to explore every secret passion, no matter how dark. Or how dangerous.

His heart began to thud, his throat to close. He tried to pull his body from the pool. 'I'll help you', his killer said. He felt no pain.

A young teacher sips a hot chocolate, blissfully unaware that his first taste condemns him to an agonising death. The community around him is devastated and suspiciously protective of their own.

No one is better equipped to see through the lies than homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas, but she is distracted by the arrival of her husband Roarke's ex-lover, an impossibly glamorous vixen, determined to steal Roarke back.

But Eve's personal life must wait when a second murder victim is found, and everyone's eyes turn to the perfect school at the heart of it all. Its secret will soon be out . . .