Early February, bitterly cold, with a frost that gaveeverything it touched a shimmering cover of tinypinhead diamonds. Weaving tendrils from the thickfog which was rolling through the streets and alley ways turned the hard edges soft, giving them analmost ethereal look. In this bleak and soulful land scape the sound of his breathing was harsh, ragged,asthmatic even, as his warm breath hurried out intothe frosty air of the alley like stream upon stream ofghostly ectoplasm.

Selina, the daughter of Lorraine's partner, DS Luke Daniels, is a beautiful and wilful sixteen-year-old with a dark past. Just as it seems she's finally getting back on her feet, she is attacked. Is Selina's past catching up with her? Or is there an even moresinister motive for the assault? Before long, Lorraine and Luke's worst fears are realised, and a body is found. A young woman, brutally murdered, her heart cut out, and in its place - a single white rose. Soon the White Rose Killer steps up his campaign. Is DI Hunt imagining it, or does he have a message specially for her? As he circles ever closer, nobody escapes suspicion and Lorraine faces her toughest case yet.