In Chastity Riley’s latest adventure, our favourite Hamburg detective is not her usual unbending self. At a colleague’s birthday party in plush Hotel Cartagena, her sarcastic streak is sparked off when her former lover orders a piña colada. ‘I jam my left hand into the pineapple, sharp as a dragon’s teeth,’ she says. The pineapple bites back and sepsis sets in, just as men in suits show up with sawn-off shotguns. Injured and vulnerable, Chastity finds herself one of numerous victims of a hostage situation. Gradually, she sinks into agonising delirium, unable to protect herself or others.