Another winner from the pen of R.J.Ellory.it begins with a murder and nothing strange about that,you may say. Well,yes,because in this case we are there in the room with the victim and her killer at the crucial point. It is also quickly established that there have been three earlier killings ,all similar. They are all female and they have all been badly beaten prior to strangulation.All but the latest have a different coloured ribbon with a blank luggage label attached,tied around their necks.
As the investigation progresses,things become stranger and stranger.There are no records of a past life whatsoever for any of them. They do not in fact officially exist at all. The more the detectives dig,the less they seem to find.
A minor quibble is that it could have done with a bit of pruning,especially towards the end.This would have helped the tension considerably.Despite this,it is still a first-class read and one that any crime/thriller enthusiast should go out and buy as soon as possible. ( )