Hollywood homicide detective Petra Connor has helped psychologist Alex Delaware crack tough cases in the past. And in Jonathan Kellermanís New York Times bestseller Billy Straight she took the lead in the desperate hunt for a teenage runaway stalked by a vengeful murderer. Now the complex and wryly compassionate Petra is once again at the center of the action, in a novel of cunning twists and page-turning suspense.

Lifeless bodies sprawl in a dance-club parking lot after a brutal L.A. drive-by. Of the four seemingly random victims, one stands out: a girl with pink shoes who cannot be identifiedñand who, days later, remains a Jane Doe. With zero leads and no apparent motive, itís another case destined for the cold fileñuntil Petra decides to follow her instincts and descends into a world of traveling grifters and bloodthirsty killers, pursuing a possible eyewitness whose life is in mortal danger.

Finding her elusive quarryñaliveñisnít all Petra has on her plate: departmental politics threatens to sabotage her case, and her personal life isnít doing much better. If all that wasnít enough, Isaac Gomez, a whiz-kid grad student researching homicide statistics at the station house, is convinced heís stumbled upon a bizarre connection between several unsolved murders. The victims had nothing in common, yet each died by the same method, on the same dateña date thatís rapidly approaching again. And that leaves Petra with little time to unravel the twisted logic of a cunning predator whoís evaded detection for yearsñand whose terrible hour is once more at hand.

ìWhy is it so hard to put down a Kellerman thriller?î asks Publishers Weekly. ìItís simple: the nonstop action leaves you breathless the plot twists keep you guessing the themes . . . are provocative.î Those in need of still further proof that ìKellerman has shaped the psychological mystery novel into an art formî (Los Angeles Times Book Review) need look no further than Twisted.