Damaged »

Haunted by the death of her sister and wounded by her ex-fiancé's accusations, Kate Lange throws herself into her new career at a high-powered law firm.

When the grandmother of a lonely private school student seeks her counsel, Kate thinks it's just another custody case. But then the teen is brutally murdered. And it isn't only Kate who wonders if her legal advice led to the girl's death.

Put on notice by Randall Barrett, the firm's charismatic managing partner, Kate must fight for her career, for her reputation—and for redemption.

Unwilling to live with the damage she may have caused, Kate pursues the case on her own and unearths some chilling facts.

Facts that lead straight to the heart of a legal conspiracy.

Facts that lead Kate directly into the surgically skilled hands of the Body Butcher.

Publishers Weekly

Callow's predictable romantic suspense debut introduces Kate Lange, a new attorney with one of the top law firms in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She's frustrated at receiving a steady diet of family law cases, but a routine consultation with Marian MacAdam, who wants custody of her granddaughter, Lisa, proves considerably more exciting when the teen is found savagely murdered. Callow throws in standard complications: Lisa's mother is an influential judge, and the assigned detective is Kate's ex-fiancé. Kate advised Marian not to seek custody and ignored her own instinctive urge to call Child Protection Services, believing that bringing a case against a judge would wreck her career; now she worries that her hesitation led to Lisa's death. Readers will find little to love in bland, defensive Kate or the coincidence-heavy plot of her first outing. (June)