Web of Deceit — Katherine Howell

Shortlisted for the 2013 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction

Often compared to Karin Slaughter and Patricia Cornwell, prize-winning author Katherine Howell thrills readers in this gripping novel featuring a determined homicide detective and a team of emergency medics.

When frantic man refuses to leave the car that witnesses say he deliberately crashed, paramedics Jane and Alex think it's a desperate cry for help. But his paranoid claims that someone is out to get him only confirm official reports that he is delusional.

When he is indeed found dead in what looks like a suicide, Jane is uneasy: she remembers the raw terror in his eyes.

Detective Ella Marconi shares these doubts, which are compounded as the case becomes increasingly tangled. The victim's boss tries to commit suicide, a witness flees, and closer to home, a woman is attacked in front of Jane's house. Then Alex's daughter goes missing.

As Ella tries to add up the clues, the investigation is hampered by her budget-focused boss. Then, just when she thinks she's closing in, a shocking turn of events endangers more people, and Ella just may see the killer slip through her hands.