The Marked Husband

A populist politician lies dead, a playing card stuck to his bloodied face. Was this about more than votes?

George Steele -- populist, provocateur, mayoral candidate -- is beaten to death on a quiet country lane as his wife looks on in horror. DS Kat Ballantyne knows this killing was personal. George was divisive, but who hated him enough to kill?

As Kat peels back the dead man's carefully constructed public image, she uncovers a growing list of people with reason to want George Steele dead. The murder trail leads from the corridors of power to the darkest corners of the city's past--and the deeper Kat digs, the darker it gets. Everyone connected to George, it seems, has something to hide.

And the Steele case isn't the only secret threatening to destroy everything Kat has built. Her covert investigation into a case in her own past is leading somewhere she never expected. And the truth, when it comes, may be worse than she can bear.