Disgraced cop, DI Ray McBain is back at work and in the professional dog-house. Desperate for something meaningful to do, he hones in on two old cases, where a woman has inveigled her way into a family and found ways to manipulate and torture the children. Only his colleague, DC Alessandra Rossi, is prepared to assist him as he attempts to dig deeper into the abuse cases, and he goes on a search for the woman, re-interviewing the children involved and following a cold and disturbing trail. Meanwhile, in Ayrshire, another young family gratefully accepts help from a stranger who enters their lives. However, the mother's loss of memory following a car crash is masking deeper problems within the family that are ripe for exploitation.Can McBain track down this woman before her acts of violence escalate, and a child is murdered?Michael J. Malone is an expert storyteller and a Taste for Malice an enjoyable and disturbing read. - Sarah Ward (A Patient Fury)One of the best books I've read in the last ten years. Stunning. - Caro Ramsay (Author of the Anderson and Costello series)'Addictive... more twists, turns and blind alleys than a labyrinth.' - Crimesquad.com