Kathy Mallory

A mutilated body is found lying on the ground in Chicago, a dead hand pointing down Adams Street, also known as Route 66, a road of many names. And now of many deaths. A silent caravan of cars, dozens of them, drives down the road, each passenger bearing a photograph, but none of them the same. They are the parents of missing children, some recently disappeared, some gone a decade or more.

The little girl appeared in Central Park: red-haired, blue-eyed, smiling, perfect - except for the blood on her shoulder. It fell from the sky, she said, while she was looking for her uncle, who turned into a tree. Poor child, people thought. And then they found the body in the tree. For NYPD detective, Kathy Mallory, there is something about the girl that she understands. Mallory is damaged, they say, but she can tell a kindred spirit.

In this astonishing new mystery by New York Times best-selling author Carol O'Connell, mad-genius NYPD detective Kathy Mallory comes up against a ghostly Broadway murderer. The reviews called it 'A Play to Die For' after the woman was found dead in the front row. The next night, there's another front-row death. Detective Kathy Mallory takes over, but no matter what she asks, no one seems to be giving her a straight answer. The only person - if 'person' is the right word - who seems to be clear is the ghostwriter.