A refitted fire engine is hauled out of the Mersey. Inside are two bodies, each shot twice.

The driver is Mel Townsend, a rock singer who was covering a hen-party shift as a favour. Her passenger is a Swiss man she collected from the airport at midnight. The only clue to his identity is the figurine of a cat in his suitcase, packed in a velvet-lined box.

It looks like a professional hit.

Detective Tara Grogan assumes Mel was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then Mel's father walks into the station. He is Lord Kingholm, a wealthy peer, and he hasn't spoken to his daughter in nearly four years.

His estranged wife died when a minibus plunged off a mountain road in Nepal. His son was killed in a boating accident off the Dorset coast.

Now his daughter is dead.

Kingholm calls it a tragic coincidence. Tara isn't so sure.

Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Jane Casey and Joy Ellis.