Brian Freeman won the International Thriller Writers' Best Hardcover Novel Award 2013 for SPILLED BLOOD. Lieutenant Jonathan Stride has never forgotten the case that made him decide to join the police force. Back in the 1970s, Laura - sister of Stride's girlfriend - was murdered. The obvious suspect was a vagrant, who slipped through the hands of the police, including Stride's detective hero Roy. Now, though, Stride's looking at the case in a new light. Tish Verdure, an old friend of Laura's, has come home: and she's certain that the killer was a local boy, now an attorney with connections at the highest level. Stride's soon convinced that there was a deliberate decision to direct the investigation towards a simple solution and away from Tish's suggested perpetrator: but he's also convinced that Tish is hiding a secret about the past. A secret that could have shattering consequences - including a second murder...