Cruel Acts is the 8th in the Maeve Kerrigan series of police procedurals set in London. As you can guess, as the series is named Maeve Kerrigan, she's the Detective protagonist. Her partner is Josh Derwent and together they've worked out an effective partnership. Though she is good with people and he is decidedly not, both are intelligent and driven and extremely good at their job, which is why they've been tasked with a delicate job. A convicted killer, Leo Stone, is about to win his appeal based on jury misconduct. Leo was convicted of killing Sara Grey and suspected of killing another. Maeve and Derwent have to revisit the case to help the prosecution strengthen their case before a retrial. While they are on the hunt for old evidence another young woman goes missing prompting fears that Leo hasn't wasted any time since being back out on bail.
It's been a while since I've had a "reading until almost 4 am, oh lord I need to go to sleep" book in my hands and though I went to work dragging, I can't say I regret the late night (early morning?). The mystery is more complicated than it at first appears, both for the detectives and the reader. And the snarky partnership between Maeve and Derwent pulls me in every time - reminds me of the great chemistry between Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos as Holder and Linden in the AMC series, The Killing. If you haven't read Jane Casey before, you could start with book one, The Burning, but really this one stands on its own so you could dive in here if you want.