Angel's Tip

In a city full of victims . . . it's hard to choose just one.

Fresh-faced Indiana college student Chelsea Hart is so excited to spend the final hours of her spring break in the VIP room of an elite New York City club that she remains behind when her girlfriends call it a night. The next morning, as her concerned friends anxiously pace their hotel lobby, joggers find Chelsea's body in East River Park, her wavy blond hair brutally hacked off.

NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher catches the case and homes in on the group of privileged men who were last seen plying Chelsea with free-flowing alcohol. But before she can even gather the preliminary evidence, the gruesome murder is grabbing headlines and drawing unwanted media attention to the department. So when Ellie builds a tight case against Jake Myers, a young hedge fund manager, the department brass and the district attorney's office are elated: the case will soon be cleared, the media will tout the department's quick work, and Ellie will be a dream witness at the trial against Myers.

But Ellie has her doubts. Chelsea's murder is eerily similar to three other deaths that occurred nearly a decade ago: the victims were young, female, and in each case, the killer had taken her hair as a souvenir.

Ellie's investigation pulls her into a late-night world of exclusive clubs, conspicuous wealth, and hedonistic consumption. And her search for the truth not only pits her against her fellow cops but also places her under the watchful eye of a psychopath eager to add the prideful young female detective to his list.

Wrenching and suspenseful, Angel's Tip is an electric thriller that offers a voyeuristic glimpse into the glamorousbut dangerous world of New York nightlife. This stunning whodunit proves yet again that Alafair Burke knows when and how to drop clues to keep readers at her mercy (Entertainment Weekly).

In a city full of victims . . . it's hard to choose just one.

Indiana college student Chelsea Hart's wild evening with affluent young party boys in an elite Manhattan club was the most exhilarating and glamorous night of her life. It was also the last.

Now NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher's obsessive hunt for the co-ed's killer—the only chance to save the next victim—is placing her directly in the sights of a psychopath.

In a city full of victims . . . it's hard to choose just one.

Indiana college student Chelsea Hart's wild evening with affluent young party boys in an elite Manhattan club was the most exhilarating and glamorous night of her life. It was also the last.

Now NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher's obsessive hunt for the co-ed's killer—the only chance to save the next victim—is placing her directly in the sights of a psychopath.

A former deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon, Alafair Burke now teaches criminal law at Hofstra Law School and lives in New York City. A graduate of Stanford Law School, she is the author of the Samantha Kincaid series, which includes the novels Judgment Calls, Missing Justice, and Close Case. Her most recent book is Angel's Tip, the second thriller featuring Ellie Hatcher.