Sometimes, there's a thin line between love and hate. Or at least that's one theory for DI Zoe Dolan, tracking the Creeper - a stalker who's been breaking into women's homes and attacking them. But the Creeper's violence is escalating and there's no pattern, no clue as to how he's getting in, and no clue as to who's next. Until Jane Webster gets a call to the helpline where she volunteers. It's meant to be a confidential service and Jane is torn - it could be a hoaxer, but the soft voice at the end of the line has the ring of truth about it. He says he loves these women - but it's a love that ends in blood. When Jane tells the police, it should be the lead that Zoe needs - but it only pulls her further into a case that is already taking her dangerously close to the past she's never fully escaped. For Jane, Zoe and all the other young women of the city, suddenly nowhere is safe. Particularly their own bedroom at the dead of night...

Detective Inspector Andrew Hicks thinks he knows all about murder. However horrific the act, the reasons behind a crime are usually easy to explain. So when a woman is found bludgeoned to death, he suspects a crime of passion and attention focuses on her possessive ex-husband. But when a second body is found, similarly beaten, Hicks is forced to think again. When more murders arrive in quick succession, Hicks realizes he is dealing with a type of killer he has never faced before, one who fits nowhere within his logic. Then the letters begin to arrive . . . As the death toll rises, Hicks must face not only a killer obsessed with randomness and chaos, but also a secret in his own past. If he is to stop the killings, he must confront the truth about himself . . .