Judgment Deferred — Jeffrey Ashford

When a particularly gruesome serial killer surfaces in London, Detective Constable Toby Ash and the rest of the department go on overtime trying to find him before he can select another victim. Ash is especially eager for a solution because each time the body of another young girl surfaces, he can't help but envision his own eight-year-old daughter, Kay, as the next victim.
But the killer is thorough. He leaves no traces of his identity behind even being so careful as to clean underneath the fingernails of his victims. Everyone in the department becomes increasingly discouraged as they put in long hours without catching the killer.
Ash's frustration is doubled because his life at home isn't going so well. He's separated from his wife, not by choice, while she sorts out her feelings about being married to someone who works late evenings, can be called away at any time, and often cannot separate his home life from his tough luck at work. If only he could solve the case and start again with his wife, he thinks to himself - and perhaps aloud as well.
So when Ash comes up with proof of the killer's identity, is there reason to question that he may have been so eager as to have planted the evidence himself? Has he really just done his homework or does he know more about the accused than any police officer could?