She interviews her parents, other friends and former lovers, and finds that she had actually quit her job some time before her death. The story becomes increasingly complex as Maeve discovers that Rebecca was not all she appeared to be. Rebecca was always the popular, lively one, and Louise has been regarded as a rather mousey side-kick. Rebecca was her only close friend, whom she met when they were both students at Oxford. Her life appears to be completely taken up with her work. Louise is an up-and-coming solicitor in a prestigious practice.

Up to this point Maeve has been the main narrator, but the narration now switches between Maeve and Louise North. When they report their findings to the Superintendent, they are both in hot water for acting independently, and Maeve is taken off the main investigation of the killings and told to concentrate on Rebecca’s life and associates. Maeve and Rob break the news of Rebecca’s murder as gently as they can. As the flat was in such a mess she decided to clean it up, (thus destroying any forensic evidence there might be). She tells them she has been worried about Rebecca lately, and as she has a key to the flat and was unable to contact Rebecca on the telephone, she went there, and there was no sign of Rebecca. They find that a young woman, Louise North, who claims to be Rebecca’s best friend, is engaged in a thorough spring-cleaning session. In the morning, on their own initiative, Maeve and Rob go round to Rebecca’s flat. The latest victim is Rebecca Haworth, an apparently successful PR executive. It also reveals some slight but significant differences from the other killings. The forensic examination proves that the unfortunate mini-cab driver couldn’t possibly be The Burning Man. They are excited at the prospect of The Burning Man being caught, but their hopes are dashed when they are called out to another young woman’s body which initially looks exactly like the other killings. Maeve and her colleague Rob Langton are called out. She stabs him with a flick-knife and jumps out of the car. He deviates from her normal route home and she becomes convinced that he is “The Burning Man” who is splashed all over the papers. The novel begins dramatically with a drunken young teenager being given a lift by a mini-cab driver. Several young women have been beaten to death, their bodies taken to quiet corners of local parks and then set alight. She and her colleagues are working on a horrifying serial murder case. Maeve Kerrigan is an ambitious young DC, determined to prove her competency in the misogynistic world of the Metropolitan CID. This a complex psychological thriller, from the bestselling author of The Missing.

The burning by jane casey