I’ve never read anything by this author before and picked this one up not knowing that it was the fourth of a series, until I finished. It didn’t matter as this tale about Cyrus Haven a forensic psychologist and his friend Evie Cormac is gripping and chilling.

It opens on a beach in England where bodies begin floating to shore. They are asylum seekers from a boat which was deliberately slammed and sunk. One boy survives and Cyrus begins investigating what happened, unwittingly unlocking Evie’s traumatic past as a refugee. It soon becomes evident that the tragedy is somehow linked to what happened to Evie when she was a child.

There are themes of human trafficking, sexual abuse and refugees which may be tough for some readers, but Robotham shines a light on human plight and desperation of refugees who need to escape their homeland and those who take advantage of their vulnerability.

It’s not completely unpredictable but what is interesting is the character of Evie and Cyrus, their relationship and the demons they both battle. This is what I found the most compelling and of course the ‘who done it’ component made it a page turner. I’ll  have to give the earlier ones in the series a go.