ANTE MORTEM

TWO BODIES. TWO DECADES APART. ONE DEADLY CONNECTION.

When an arson attack reveals a fresh corpse alongside remains from nearly twenty years ago, DS Ronnie Blake and Cambridge''s special investigations unit, known as the DEAD team, must investigate both to find the connection. Their only lead is Mariel Greer, who, as a child, survived her mother''s abduction and presumed murder.

Mariel remembers nothing, except a single, haunting phrase she repeated over and over. Now, as long-buried secrets resurface, the team must untangle a mystery long thought lost, before the killer strikes again.

Praise for Alison Bruce

''A powerful and absorbing story that stayed with me long after I''d finished reading. A writer at the top of her game'' ELLY GRIFFITHS

''Admirers of Bruce''s superb DC Goodhew series will seize on this . . . engrossing, and with plot twists that keep you guessing till the end, this is a brilliant start to what promises to be a terrific new series'' CHRISTINA KONING

''Superb! Ronnie Blake will become a household name alongside crime fiction''s top protagonists. Because You Looked Away is gripping, clever and utterly authentic'' GRAHAM BARTLETT

''Because She Looked Away is fast paced, twisty, clever, and satisfying, an engaging start to a new series from an established author'' EMILY WINSLOW

''One of our most interesting crime writers'' Daily Mail