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Readers might be forgiven for groaning 'Not another feisty female forensic scientist!' Particularly as Elizabeth Becka's publishers invoke ace practitioner Kathy Reichs to promote this debut thriller. But just a few pages into Becka's gritty and compulsive novel dispels all doubts: the author (herself a forensic scientist) has parlayed her medical know-how and solid narrative skills into something that functions strongly in its own right (even if the shades of Reichs and co. are never far away).

Evelyn James, forensic pathologist for the Cleveland Medical Examiner, is asked to investigate the death of a young girl who has been pulled from the river. But apart from the grim details of decomposition (to which James is used), the victim is chained, with her feet embedded in concrete. And this girl is not the only one to die and in such a fashion. Evelyn's ex-lover, Daryl Pierson, is the Mayor of Cleveland, and would prefer to have no dealings with her. But then a young woman from the upper echelons of society vanishes, and Evelyn finds herself drawn into a case that exposes multiple layers of corruption. The working out of the plot (with the protagonist moving uneasily through all strata of society) is handled with an assurance that belies the fact that this is a debut novel.