Killing Time — Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Detective Inspector Bill Slider is back at his post at London's Shepherd's Bush police station-accompanied by a persistent headache, resulting from a recent case that also left his steadfast colleague Atherton hospitalized. And the throbbing pain is compounded by his ex-wife's efforts to seek a reconciliation that doesn't happen to sit well with Joanna, his lover. But his domestic problems are swiftly put on hold when duty calls.

After receiving a series of threatening correspondence, a gender-bending, erotic male dancer had pleaded with Slider for help. But the wily policeman doesn't respond until it's too late--and the dancer has been murdered. Probing the victim's sordid career, Slider plunges into a world of seedy nightclubs to interrogate table-dancers, prostitutes, pimps, and cabinet ministers with some very peculiar peccadilloes. When the vicious attack of a popular constable links itself to the dancer's murder, Slider delves even deeper to find the connection between the two incidents. As the pressure mounts, he must work his trusted gray matter to the quick if he wants to prevent a savage murderer from killing again.