Say a Prayer

DC Zander Ellery isn't sure which he dislikes the most: New partners, rookie female officers, or cases he can't solve. Right now he has all three. DC Isabel York is fresh out of uniform and out of the proverbial frying pan into the fire as her personal and professional lives clash with her first case - ten stolen works of art. When a postcard arrives addressed to Isabel with a cryptic message on it, it's just the beginning. The mystery deepens as the first of the stolen paintings is found alongside a dead body - bound and gagged and left posed in prayer at the place depicted in the postcard. Are nine more murders coming? Can Zander and Isabel find the missing paintings and solve the murder before another victim falls?

As the body count increases and more paintings are recovered, DC Zander Ellery and his partner DC Isabel York are under increasing pressure to catch the killer the press have dubbed the Prayer Slayer. A few tenuous links are all they have between the deaths of three young, pretty women. The new Chief Superintendent is only adding to the pressure and seems to be picking on Isabel more than any other officer. Torn between his urge to protect his partner and his need to solve the case, Zander sits his sergeant's exams, hoping once they are over, he won't be so distracted. But a rocky relationship with his girlfriend and one more murder only adds to his stress.

With trouble on the streets, DS Zander Ellery is under even more pressure to solve the case of the Prayer Slayer. His partner DC Isabel York is convinced she is being targeted, as all the postcards the Slayer sends are addressed only to her. With Zander and Isabel pulled in different directions, the body count escalates, until the case explodes in a direction no one could foresee - Something that will test everyone to the limits of their experience and faith.

Just when things couldn't get much worse, they suddenly do. With DS Zander Ellery in jail, his partner DC Isabel York fights to clear his name. Not an easy task when she is suspended from duty and the evidence against him is compelling. Finally, pieces begin to fall into place, but to catch the Prayer Slayer once and for all, both officers must walk down a dark path where their very souls are at risk of being taken.

Boaz Matthias isn't a Christmas person. He never has been. Not since he discovered the truth when he was seven. Christmas is a lie and nothing is ever going to change his mind. Being given a temporary six-week assignment isn't helping his mood either, as it means Christmas with the family. The only good thing is the accidental meeting of someone he thinks he could grow very fond of. DC Isabel York loves Christmas. So much so that she decorates her desk with lights, tinsel, and a novelty advent calendar. When her boss is called away, his replacement is the last person she's expecting to see, her fledgling boyfriend. In the middle of a nasty case, Isabel is nevertheless determined to show Boaz the real meaning of Christmas. The only problem is that work and pleasure just don't mix, at least not according to him.