Nocebo

Summary

A teenage girl and a young boy are found dead and they appear to have been victims of a ritual killing. Alex is upset by the lack of care shown by their bereaved families as she’s having problems of her own with her son Ben. The trail leads to links with a property tycoon who’ll stop at nothing to get the rent paid, a preacher whose “healing” activities involve animal sacrifice, and a self-styled artist whose works are painted in blood. For Tony the dead bodies could be a warning and he puzzles over what the killer might want to gain and why. Is this caused by a religious cult? Is it one killer or two with one suspect following the other? Meanwhile Alex has taken Tony’s advice and hired a nanny, easing her pressures with Ben and work. When the nanny returns home without Ben the team realise the awful truth. The killer has been lurking unseen but close by, manipulating the police via psychological suggestion just as they have manipulated their victims. And the killer now has Ben.