"He is a terrific writer doing something different." - Mark Billingham

"From the first page I knew I was in safe hands. I knew I could trust this writer." - Sophie Hannah

"Wonderfully compelling". - Kate Mosse

Li Yan and Margaret Campbell are reluctantly reunited, on the trail of a killer reenacting a series of gruesome rituals.

THE SECOND NOVEL IN THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED CHINA SERIES, FROM THE MILLION-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE RICHARD AND JUDY BESTSELLER THE BLACKHOUSE.

THE SECOND OPINION

The Chinese police have once more been forced to enlist the services of American forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell: this time to investigate a series of four horrific ritual executions that have taken place in Beijing.

THE THIRD DEGREE

Detective Li Yan is determined to discover just how one of the victims in particular, an American diplomat, became caught up in the slaying. And he is arguably even more determined to have nothing to do with Campbell.

THE FOURTH SACRIFICE

The polarity that once attracted Yan and Campbell eventually pulls them back into partnership. Yet the closer they are drawn to the truth, the nearer they come to a killer prepared to use extreme force to conceal it.