Who would have it in for a New York Police lieutenant as to murder a young woman just to harm him? That is the riddle Scott McIngley is trying to solve. Who is the mysterious black-cloaked woman who leaves a "memento" for Scott after every killing spree? The longer the investigation continues, the closer the killer gets, psychologically and physically, to Scott himself. He starts to choose his victims from Scott's immediate entourage. The obscure messages left at every crime scene earn him the nickname "the five senses killer." Panic takes over. Scott is now sure the killer knows him intimately. What if it is a close friend or colleague? Scott begins to doubt himself; old demons resurface; long-repressed traumas rear their heads. Will they impair his grasp of reality? Fortunately his colleagues support him in his investigation and his wife is - or so he believes - in safety at her dying father's bedside. The enquiry seems to be entering the finishing straight; the evidence against a suspect becomes overwhelming; the net is tightening. But there are still surprises in store for Scott. ... In fact the descent into hell has only just begun.