It's the dead of winter and the weather in the Lake of the Ozarks region of mid-Missouri is bitterly cold and snowy. Canton County sheriff detective Claire Morgan returns to her job after recuperating from severe injuries sustained on a case during the summer (read HEAD TO HEAD, 3/06). Claire doesn't want to experience anything like that ever again. She really thought this rural area would be so much more peaceful than where she came from -- L.A. But that doesn't seem to be true, as she'll soon find out.

When a report comes in of a missing person north of the lake, Claire and her partner, Bud, are sent to investigate. The man is a teacher at the prestigious Dome of the Cave Academy for the Gifted. Everyone they interview hated the man intensely. But what they eventually discover has happened to the teacher is more bizarre than anything imaginable -- he's suspended from a tree in the deep woods, overlooking the campus, wrapped in a plastic bag with just his head showing. It's what's inside the bag that creeps them all out. When another body turns up dead in the same bizarre manner, the detectives fear they have a totally twisted serial killer in their midst. And it's not just the weather that's giving them the chills.

Linda Ladd has written one of the most creepy, crawly and compelling psychological thrillers ever. This unique, edgy plot truly gave me the shivers. Claire is a tough-as-nails cop who thinks she's seen it all, and then is proven wrong. The narrative is from Claire's perspective and her voice is quite glib (at times even very humorous) in her telling of the story, which made it even more of a great read.