The girls are sleeping upstairs. If their parents make one wrong move, their daughters will die.EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT SUSPENSE WITH ONE TWIST AFTER ANOTHER.Emmy and her little sister Dani are sleeping in their bedroom upstairs. Their parents are in the kitchen.A knife is jammed to their mother's throat. Their father has a stack of kitchen plates balanced on his back.The intruder rasps, 'Don't be breathing too hard now. I reckon smashing plates is the sort of noise that'll wake a child. Have them coming down to see what's going on. There can't be witnesses . . .'What Detective Maddie Ives will find in that nice family kitchen will horrify even this most hardened cop.And she knows the victim . . .Perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers, Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Patricia Gibney or Mark Billingham.DON'T MISS THE MOST UNPUTDOWNABLE THRILLER YOU'LL READ THIS YEAR!READERS LOVE THE GIRLS ????? 'A rip-roaring thriller. Charlie Gallagher weaves intrigue, suspense and emotion, not to mention horrific violence, into a climactic and unexpected outcome . . . My best read of 2024.' Jonathan M.????? 'A cracker from start to finish . . . This is definitely one of my favourite series.' Booklover Bev????? 'Riveting and gripping . . . This is one not to be missed.' Carol????? 'I have read all the Maddie Ives novels so far, and this is the most terrifying I have read . . . Take a good, serious breath before you open this one.' Magali P.????? 'The best so far; I'm not sure how Charlie will top this one. From start to finish you are kept guessing.' Charlton L.????? 'Gripping from start to finish.' Seonaid A.????? 'Had me laughing, angry, and also crying . . . One of the best series I have read.' Leanne F.????? 'A breath-taking read.' Mary R.????? 'So gripping . . . I was holding my breath in fear for what would happen.' Carole G.????? 'Once I started, I could not stop reading . . . Full of action, tension, and suspense.' LeeTHE DETECTIVEActing Inspector Maddie Ives's policing career has been anything but conventional. During the first few days of her training, she was plucked from the classroom and thrust straight into the world of undercover policing, forcing her to survive on her wits. Just as she was beginning to find her feet, she was once again wrenched out of her comfort zone with an enforced move into Major Crime with no previous experience of major investigations and no time to learn. Now, shaped, hardened - and maybe damaged - by the constant need to adapt to new surroundings, Maddie feels she may have finally found her place, with Harry Blaker as her friend and mentor and Vince Arnold as her lover.