Crossbones Yard

"An atmospheric, smart, often terrifying read" from the author of the Isles of Scilly Mysteries—now optioned for television (Louise Penny, #1 New York Times–bestselling author).

Alice Quentin is a psychologist with some painful family secrets, but she has a good job, a good-looking boyfriend, and excellent coping skills, even when that job includes evaluating a convicted killer who's about to be released from prison. One of the highlights of her day is going for a nice, long run around her beloved London—it's impossible to fret or feel guilty about your mother or brother when you're concentrating on your breathing—until she stumbles upon a dead body at a former graveyard for prostitutes, Crossbones Yard.


The dead woman's wounds are alarmingly similar to the signature style of Ray and Marie Benson, who tortured and killed thirteen women before they were caught and sent to jail. Five of their victims were never found. That was six years ago, and the last thing Alice wants to do is to enter the sordid world of the Bensons or anyone like them. But when the police ask for her help in building a psychological profile of the new murderer, she finds that the killer—and the danger to her and the people she cares about—may already be closer than she ever imagined.


With gripping suspense and a terrific new heroine, Kate Rhodes's Crossbones Yard introduces a powerful new voice in crime fiction.

"A first novel by the British poet Kate Rhodes is a fast-moving, entertaining mix of sex, suspense and serial killings." —The Washington Post