With a terrifying certainty, she knew she was going to die.

DI Geraldine Steel knows people go missing all the time. So when her partner Ian asks her to look into the disappearance of his football-buddy's girlfriend, her first instinct is to reassure him there's no need for concern.

Until she's called to a suspected murder.

The young woman has earth and fragments of twigs in her hair. It's as if she'd been completely encased in earth. And yet she was found on the pavement, at the side of a suburban road, where she wasn't in contact with any soil or mud.

Without a crime scene, the investigation focuses on her boyfriend. But then another young woman is reported missing. Unless he has an accomplice, they have an innocent man in custody. And Steel is running out of time...

A page-turning puzzle of a case with an unexpected final twist. If you're a fan of Angela Marsons, Mel Sherratt and Karin Slaughter, you'll love Leigh Russell.

'Taut writing, tense storyline and characters that jump off the page.' - Angela Marsons

'Brilliant and chilling, Leigh Russell delivers a cracker of a read!' - Martina Cole

'Unmissable.' - Lee Child