This is the third book in the Ziba MacKenzie series. Ziba is a profiler with a special forces background, she carries a lot of sadness with her as her husband Duncan was killed a few years before the events in this story. This novel has an intriguing start. Ziba is lecturing at the FBI in Quantico whilst in London a murderer labelled the Pink Rose Killer (PRK) is stalking London for victims. Pulling the strings like a master puppeteer is Dr Vernon Sange, a cold blooded serial killer of at least 12 people and currently serving life imprisonment in HMP Wakefield, the largest high security prison in the UK. He is awaiting extradition to the USA for execution for crimes committed there. There is a connection between Sange and the PRK as Sange seems to know far more than he should which he dangles in riddles. Ziba is bright back from Quantico to help Scotland Yard detectives profile the PRK. This is a very twisty, dark story with gruesome murders which has the feel of Criminal Minds with Ziba being JJ or Emily Prentiss and I did feel as if I had stepped into an episode! The story is told by Ziba and the killer which works well.

The characters in the book are good. I like Ziba although in this one although she drops the ball rather too often as she wrestles with her feelings for journalist Jack Wolfe. He is a really good character too and you so root for these two to make a go of things so Ziba can move on from Duncan. You learn more about Ziba and her background in this one which I enjoyed. I like the interactions and game playing between Ziba and Sange who is a former university don and so is highly intelligent and the master of manipulation. They lock horns and try to outplay each other but it has to be said that Ziba is frequently on the back foot. Sange is the snake in this story and Ziba is climbing the ladders. DI Nigel Fingerling is just as odious as he was in previous books although some of his instincts are correct.

Part of the story has ancient Roman connections and has links to Ancient Greek literature which I think is a really good element and quite original and this is what links Sange to the PLK. My only negatives are that some scenes feel a bit manufactured and a tad unrealistic and there are some ‘Silence of the Lambs’ moments especially at the end.

Overall, a good, dark psychological thriller with a dash of humour and an abundance of twists and turns that fans of the genre appreciate.

Dr. Vernon Sange is an incarcerated serial killer and he appears to have intimate knowledge of another serial killer slashing his way though London. Sange won’t spill his guts to anyone but profiler Ziba Mackenzie, the same women who was responsible for having him locked up. Make no mistake, Sange isn’t helping the police through the goodness of his heart, he wants something in return. Silence of the Lambs. With more than a little resemblance to Silence of the Lambs and some Ted Bundy thrown in, this book highlights what profilers have often known – serial killers make some of the best profilers themselves

So far, I've been very impressed with Ziba MacKenzie's stories and number 3 does not disappoint. Ziba faces a real baddie in the tradition of the best charming but super-scary serial killers. Ziba put Vernon Sange behind bars, but she now needs him to catch a new killer whose only calling card is a rose petal. The murders are creepy and, as much as Ziba tries, the police are nowhere near catching the killer. There's also personal drama as her relationship with her late husband's best friend gets more complicated and he starts becoming a liability. The ways that Sange manipulates and gets involved in Ziba's life are pretty creative. I loved all the twists and turns except for the final one. No spoilers but I had discarded that particular suspicion because it was so, so obvious that it could not be real, could it? If an accountant in Idaho figured it out immediately, one of the best profilers in the Yard's history would clearly have seen it coming, right? I didn't find this part believable. Anyway, the rest of the novel was so good, that I will try to forget such an oversight and chalk it up to Ziba's being distracted.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, Amazon Publishing UK!

A good thriller with strong characters that hooks from the start, just as good as the first two in the series and although it can be read before you read the first two i would reccomend they are read in order, cannit wait for number 4 to appear on Netgalley

What started seemingly to be a rehash along the lines of Silence of the Lambs changed into a reader grabbing story line keeping one intrigued to the very end.. an unmissable read!