Val McDermid has written five crime novels featuring Kate Brannigan, the third of which, Crack Down , was shortlisted for the CWA's Gold Dagger Award and the Anthony Award. She has also written a non-fiction book, A Suitable Job for a Woman , lifting the lid on the world of female private detectives. A serial killer is on the loose in the northern city of Bradfield. Four men have been brutally killed by savage knife wounds. In each case the men have been mutilated and tortured.
Fear grips the city and no man feels safe.
Crime Writers' Association Awards 1995 - Gold Dagger Published 1996.