Praised for its individuality, intelligence and wit - not to mention its twisting, turning, nailbite-enducing plot - this is a fresh and funny debut crime novel featuring sparky heroine Madeline Dare.

When fledgling journalist Madeline Dare stumbles on dog tags found at the site of an unsolved double murder, she's not sure she's the right person to write about it. After all, chatty puff-pieces like 1001 Ways with Chicken Wings' are more her speed than an investigative piece on the brutal murder of two young women.

But soon Maddie is obsessed by the 'Rose Girls case - so called for the thorny garlands found on the dead women's heads. Eerily, the name on the dog tags is that of her favourite cousin, Lapthorne Townsend, golden boy of a still wealthy branch of Maddie's old-money family.

Maddie believes the delightfully droll Lapthorne is innocent of the killings, and sets out on a quest to clear his name. Her investigation triggers a string of grisly new murders, the trail of blood leading right to Maddie's door ...

Published to rave reviews in the US and Australia, A Field of Darkness dazzles with its spellbinding narrative, sparky heroine and terrific plot.