A victim on display. A detective on the rails.
Shopping with her sister, DI Amy Winter is admiring a Valentine’s Day window display of a perfect bride encrusted in diamonds and resplendent in lace—until she notices blood oozing from the mannequin’s mouth.

This is no stunt. A post-mortem reveals the victim was left to die on her macabre throne for all to see. When a second victim is found, it emerges that both women were ‘Sugar Babes’ arranging dates with older men online—and Amy finds herself hunting an accomplished psychopath.

As she tracks down the killer, Amy’s instincts go into overdrive when the charismatic head of the agency behind the display makes no attempt to hide his fascination with her serial-killer parents. What exactly does he want from Amy? With her own world in freefall as her biological mother, Lillian Grimes, appeals her conviction, Amy pushes the boundaries of police procedure when a third ‘Sugar Babe’ disappears…Is she as much at risk as the killer’s victims?

My thoughts on Left for Dead…

The image of a dead body posed as a mannequin in a bridal shop is one of the creepiest and cleverest murder scenes I’ve encountered for a while. It’s stayed with me since I read Left for Dead (which was about a month ago – I’m way behind on reviews), as has the book as a whole because it’s really good.

What did I like about it? The central character Amy Winter for a start. This is the third book in a series – the others are crackers too – and she makes a great main protagonist. She’s smart, dogged, and just that little bit messed up thanks to a crappy childhood that you’ll need to read book one to find out more about.

These traits mean she won’t let go of a case till she’s solved it. They also mean she has a tendency to put herself in danger.  Which brings me to my second ‘like’, the suspense that runs through the book. It does keep you on the edge of your seat, even though you know who the killer is from the beginning. This is hard to do and I think Caroline Mitchell should be commended for doing it so well.

And that leads me quite nicely into the third main reason I enjoyed this book. The writing.  Caroline Mitchell is good. She paints a great picture and makes you believe in what is happening on the page. If the book I’d read before it hadn’t been so mediocre, I may not have realised just how good. It definitely made a sharp contrast. And it’s why – if I used a star rating – I’d definitely go for five stars. A great read and highly recommended.

Note: I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review. All thoughts, feelings and opini