Sins of the Mother, a kate carpenter mystery

The third Kate Carpenter mystery

It's strange how something as simple as a knock on the door can change your life completely – and not necessarily for the better. Kate Carpenter has had a busy year, what with moving in with her boyfriend, Cam, dealing with visits from ex-boyfriends – not to mention job stress, as she keeps finding dead bodies all over the theatre she manages.

And then comes the knock on her door and a visit from Cam's cousin, just escaped from an abusive marriage with nowhere else to turn. As Kate and Cam get nowhere trying to navigate Carrie through the frustrating bureaucracy of lawyers and police, they finally decide to take matters into their own hands. Tragedy strikes as a gun turns up and a policeman goes down and, although the police arrest someone, Kate just doesn't think things add up and is determined to get to the truth.

Although her motives are entirely altruistic, Kate finds herself being hassled by the police and threatened by the most dangerous creature of all: a mother. Something that Kate finds even more difficult to deal with as she struggles with a personal tragedy of her own.