A Meeting of Minds — Clare Curzon

A woman is found stabbed to death in her car outside a pub, clothed in only a fur coat. Detective Superintendent Mike Yeadings and his Thames Valley team discover that the victim is the new neighbor of Sergeant Rosemary "Z" Zyczynski. The woman, Sheila Winters, who ran a garden center and lived with her mother, was by all appearances quiet and unassuming. Considering the brutal crime and her state of dress, perhaps her private life was not so unassuming after all.

As the team investigates, tensions between Rosemary and a rival for promotion to inspector threaten to create an impasse, while curious details of the victim's past come to light, including an estranged father with secrets of his own. Yet the killer's motive and identity remain elusive -- until a strange and shocking turn of events reveals the true nature of the crime.