The Trap By Gregg Dunnett

With no streetlights and little light left in the sky, Erica nearly missed the narrow track to the isolated cottage. There was still blue police tape stretched over the front door, and the broken window where the killer had got in was poorly secured with cardboard, sodden from the storm. Erica tried the switch by the door and her heart sank. The power was off. Her neck prickling, she ducked under the tape and stepped inside…

Detective Erica Sands is called out to a lonely cottage in Dorset, England. A local woman, Jane Smith, has been found murdered in her home. At first, it looks like a burglary gone wrong until Erica’s attention is grabbed by a seemingly minor detail. A framed photograph of Jane’s two cats – one black and one white – triggers a strange disquiet in Erica, which turns to shock when she discovers a cryptic note written in blood tucked beneath the frame.

Erica’s curiosity deepens when she's summoned to a meeting with the Director General of Highmoor Prison, who reveals an unsettling twist. Her estranged father, Charles Sterling – a convicted killer himself – claims to possess crucial information about Jane’s murder. He's willing to share it only with her, leaving Erica torn between anger and a nagging suspicion that he might hold a key to the case.

As she grapples with what to do next, Erica discovers a chilling connection between the murder victim and her own past, just as the investigation takes an unexpected turn when a pair of twin girls are snatched from outside the gates of their school on a sunny afternoon. Are the two cases connected? If so, time is running out for Erica to find the girls alive…

With a sophisticated killer still on the loose, and Erica’s father doing everything he can to get into her head, the stakes have never been higher. The Trap will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page!