In this eerie crime thriller from USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Benedict, one woman is tasked with investigating a series of disturbing deaths that resemble classic fairytales, only to find out that the killings have much more to do with the facts of her own past than with fiction. . . This is once upon a time, like you've never read it before For twenty-five years, DI Lyla Rondell has lived with one unsolved case: her best friend's disappearance. The only clue―a poisoned apple―earned it the nickname "Snow White." It's haunted her ever since.   Now, when a woman is taken in a crime that has striking similarities to the story of Cinderella, Lyla is charged with investigating. And as more murders take place, each one based on a different classic fairytale, Lyla is determined to finally uncover the truth.  But these deaths are far from the stuff of bedtime stories. And worse, it becomes increasingly clear that these killings, and the messages left within them, are addressed directly to Lyla.   As the murders get more gruesome, Lyla becomes entangled in a web of crime and storytelling that goes far deeper than she ever could have imagined. Because someone out there is pulling her strings, and to turn the final page on the killings, Lyla will have to take a little creative license of her own.  Alexandra Benedict studied English at Cambridge and creative writing at Sussex. As A.K. Benedict, she published the critically acclaimed THE BEAUTY OF MURDER and THE EVIDENCE OF GHOSTS. She has composed film and television soundtracks and performed as a musician before becoming a full-time writer in 2012.