Wire in the Blood

Several bodies are discovered buried in wasteland. They range from all walks of life and ages but each body is incomplete and their hands have been tied. This leads Tony to suspect that a sadomasochism ring may be involved and leads him to the dominatrix Elektra, who tells him about her clientèle. Sometimes the mildest people outwardly have the darkest secrets.

Tony attends a conference of psychologists, where he is a guest speaker and where he meets an old friend Rachel White, another delegate. He has drinks with her in her room but leaves before having sex. Next morning she is found dead and he was the last person to see her alive, marking him as a suspect. Then another psychologist is also murdered whilst Alex investigates a serial killer whose targets are prostitutes.

Two young men are found murdered, the only connection being that skin from one of them is found under the other's fingernails. As other bodies are found, Tony deduces that a sadistic gay murderer is abducting white boys and forcing them to kill each other. Meanwhile Michael Bryant, the cannibal killer whom Tony helped to put away, sends him a message from the secure unit where he is incarcerated, telling Tony that he is planning to escape and will see him soon.

Another serial killer is at work. This one kills homeless men by stabbing them through the heart but a bizarre ritual is also at work because the bodies are bathed and wrapped up in paper before they are left around the town's business area. Alex is called away and her place taken by the young Oxbridge graduate Hall,of whom Tony is initially suspicious but he turns out to have a psychology degree and to be a big fan of Tony's work. A more sinister fan,clearly Bryant,is leaving 'presents' on Tony's door-step.