The Webbed Heart

The genre is a fast paced and fairly complex murder/ legal thriller. The story is set against the backdrop of Sydney, using some Iconic landmarks.
Ultimately the plot surrounds a serial killer with a unique footprint. He murders his victims with an injection of funnel web spider venom (huge doses) from his own personal spider pharm and apparently leaves no trace. The villain is a sadist with a hunger for revenge since he was molested as a child. The novel features three main protagonists- two male and one female all of whom are young and attractive. Jessica Dark is at the core of this - a young solicitor new to Sydney, with an incredible memory and highly intelligent. Caster is her renegade friend, both hale from the UK and he is something of a minor criminal genius. Their friendship stems from loyalty, trust and also their general solitary natures. The final character is Muller, an extremely intelligent, analytical academic with a dry sense of humour.
It is a difficult case; the police and Jessica work together, and independently, through an array of witnesses, personal encounters and evidence. It is important to admire the killers operation, whilst at the same time being repulsed by his actions- this is enhanced by his spider fascination. Jessica is crucial to solving the crime through her memory talent after she engages personally with the killer before they are aware of his identity. He has a fascination with Jessica, and the reader fears for her throughout the book.
There is some element of romance and sex in the book, not just between the major characters as sex plays an important role in the thriller. This is due to the killer’s obsessive nature with it; there is a fragile relationship between sex and pain. An important minor character is Rosalind; Muller’s girlfriend but who Castor shares an attraction with. This works parallel to Jessica’s chemistry with Muller. These relationships are complex in keeping with the tone of the book; there are other minor sexual liaisons involved.
I have written it to be the first book in a trilogy; all described as ‘Jessica Dark thrillers', whilst each will be self contained they will all include these same three protagonists.