When the body of university student Clare Mills is dragged from the river, Superintendent John Lambert and his partner, Bert Hook, are first on the scene. It's a particularly tragic case, even in the eyes of the two seasoned detectives, so when they report Clare's death to her mother, they expect hysterics. But the woman's reaction is as strange a one as they've ever encountered--she seems totally unaffected by her daughter's death. Lambert and Hook immediately suspect the parents, but as they examine Clare's life, they find plenty of other suspects. Clare was divorced from a local lowlife with a history of violence, she had befriended a threatening-looking illegal immigrant, she had broken off a lesbian relationship with her teacher, and she'd rejected the amorous advances of a fellow student. Gregson offers a beguiling plot, realistic characters, and plenty of twists in yet another skillfully written British procedural from his experienced hand. --Emily Melton Copyright 2005 Booklist