«Dead Girl Walking» by Christopher Brookmyre

A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year: From Berlin to Barcelona, sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, and murder make for “tantalizing . . . fantastic thriller fare” (Booklist).Celebrated, beautiful, and talented, rock star Heike Gunn has everything. Then, following a sell-out tour in Germany, the superstar vanishes. So have a lot of things in the life of Scottish investigating reporter Jack Parlabane: his career, his marriage, and his reputation after he ended up on the wrong end of a scandal. But when he gets a call for help from the manager of Heike’s band, Parlabane sees a shot at redemption.As Parlabane enters the backstage world of a group at the breaking point, he discovers each member is hiding something. Paranoia, jealousy, fear, guilt, and obsession are getting the best of them. It got to Heike, too. But in pursuing her reckless past—from Milan to the Scottish islands—Parlabane is being followed by his own dark history. As secrets collide, he’d better find Heike fast before it’s too late . . . for both of them.The prize-winning series continues with a “country-hopping plot [that] looks back to Graham Greene and John Buchan, but . . . [it’s] bang up-to-date” (The Sunday Times).“Fascinating . . . darkly humorous yet disturbing.” —Publishers Weekly“Good right to the final page.” —The Globe and Mail