In the spring of 2001, a detestable serial killer was preying on beautiful, blonde, eight to ten year old girls in the community of Rockford, Illinois. These babies were suffocated in their own bed, with their hands posed across their chests. Pink lip gloss was smeared on their mouths, and each was wearing a nightgown provided by the pervert. After murdering three children in this manner, the Sleeping Angel Killer, or SAK, disappears.
Kitt Lundgren, Violent Crimes Bureau Detective, and her partner, Brian Spillaire, were in charge of these "Sleeping Angel" killings, and Kitt was obsessed to find this beast, since the young victims were same age as her daughter, Sadie, who was dying of leukemia.
After an absence of five years, the SAK is back. Kitt's life has changed dramatically. Her beloved daughter is dead, she has been divorced for three years after a twenty- five year marriage, and she is a recovering alcoholic. After an eighteen month forced leave from her duties, Kitt returned to work two months ago after a stint in rehab, and is assigned routine cases. A younger, intensely aggressive, and ambitious detective, Mary Catherine "M.C." Riggio is now in charge of the SAK case, but grudgingly allows Kitt and Brian to look at the latest murder scene, and Kitt immediately notices that the victim's hands are positioned differently. M.L. wants Kitt shut out of the case, but a call from the SAK puts the women working together, with Kitt, once again, as lead detective. The SAK claims that he didn't kill this latest victim, that a copy cat did, and the SAK wants Kitt to find the impostor, or there will be more killings.
This extremely effective thriller is replete with murder, betrayal, suffering and redemption, and Erica Spindler is at the top of her game in this riveting tale of psychological suspense. She is, and has always been, a master at combining police procedural and multilayered thrillers. COPY CAT is dark, edgy, and at times, disturbing. However, the exquisite writing keeps the reader rapidly turning the pages. The characters are flawed, which makes them memorable and real. The suspects are many, and the killer is a real surprise.
Five years ago, three young victims were found dead, posed like little angels. There were no witnesses. Strangely clean scenes. The Sleeping Angel Killer called his despicable acts "the perfect crimes."
The case immobilized the close-knit community of Rockford, Illinois, and nearly destroyed homicide detective Kitt Lundgren's career -- and her life. During the investigation, Kitt tragically lost her own child to illness. She was overwhelmed by the death of her daughter, and the final blow was the crushing realization that she let the killer get away.
Now the Sleeping Angel Killer is back.
Familiar with every nuance of the cold-case file, Kitt knows there's something different about this new rash of killings -- a tiny variation that opens terrifying new possibilities. Is the Sleeping Angel Killer really back, or is a copycat killer re-creating the original "perfect crimes"?
But Kitt has no authority in this investigation. Young, ambitious detective Mary Catherine Riggio is heading up the Sleeping Angel Killer case. M.C. knows that Kitt wants back in and she's smart enough to realize that Kitt's obsession with the case has given the detective insight that M.C. lacks. But M.C., intent on proving herself, fears Kitt will blow the investigation -- again.
Then Kitt starts receiving disturbing phone calls. It's him -- the Sleeping Angel Killer -- and he makes Kitt an unthinkable offer: help in finding his copycat. Forced to rely on each other, Kitt and M.C. must decide whether to place their trust in a murderer . . . or risk becoming victims of a fiend who has taken the art of the perfect murder to horrific new heights.
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