DEAD PRETTY, a murder mystery by new signing Candy Denman, screenwriter for The Bill, Doctors and Heartbeat.

When a local woman is killed, police indifference leads a doctor to begin her own investigation

It is not unusual for Callie Hughes to see a dead body. As a part-time police doctor, she has seen more than most. And it was hardly unusual for her to be called in to a reported drugs overdose. Her work as a forensic physician in Hastings has led her to see a fair few of those.

But the corpse of the young woman that she is now examining isn’t surrounded by the typical drug paraphernalia; the room lacks the squalor she might expect to see. What the corpse does have, is a faint mark around the neck. It might easily have gone unnoticed, but once she’s seen it, Dr Callie Hughes can’t get the idea out of her head that she is looking at the victim of a strangling.

Hughes returns to her other job as a local GP, but after she discovers on the grapevine that the victim was in fact murdered, her curiosity gets the better of her. Unfortunately, the local police do not take kindly to her interest. And she can’t help but think that the victim being a prostitute has something to do with their lack of concern.

Soon Hughes will be called to another victim killed in similar circumstances. Her medical knowledge will give her unique insight into the killer, but convincing the police of her input’s value will be a challenge. And her naturally inquisitive character may well lead her into danger.

Can Hughes hunt down a killer terrorising local women, or will her curiosity make her a victim?

DEAD PRETTY is the first in a series of murder mysteries about police doctor and part-time GP, Dr Callie Hughes. Readers who like forensics in crime fiction and medical thrillers, like Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series, will particularly enjoy this book.

The full list of titles in the series is as follows:

• DEAD PRETTY
• BODY HEAT
• GUILTY PARTY
• VITAL SIGNS
• DEADLY REMEDIES
• MURDER LUST
• BONES OF CONTENTION