I have never read any of the authors previous works and after this I probably will not.I hope that police work is never really as shoddy as it is in this book. The lead female character is all over the place and makes more and more ridiculous decisions/comments as the book progresses.The victim is not at all sympathetic and I found myself rooting AGAINST her almost the entire book.With an ending that feels like it came out of left field, you would be better not settling down to read this book. Save yourself some time.