DCI Martens has had to be unyielding to make it in a man's world - and has rightfully earned the nickname the "hard detective". It was this toughness that inspired her successful Stop the Rot campaign, which has so provoked local criminals. But now two of her officers have been murdered within hours of each other - the circumstances echoing the Book of Exodus, "a life for a life, an eye for an eye...". Has the killer chosen this gruesome ritual to tell Harriet she's been pushing too hard? And if so, can she prevent the six deaths that will complete the quotation - continuing with a tooth for a tooth...? Praise for H. R. F. Keating: 'Better than almost any other crime novel on the shelves these days' - The New York Times Book Review 'Keating writes crime fiction that refuses to pander and consistently entertains as it unfolds, enigma after enigma' - Publishers Weekly H.R.F. Keating, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, was the crime books reviewer for The Times for fifteen years. He has also served as Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and the Society of Authors. He has written numerous novels as well as several non-fiction works. He is perhaps best known for his Inspector Ghote series. The first of which, The Perfect Murder, was made into a film by Merchant Ivory.