A wedding is the culmination of months of planning, worry, and excitement, beginning a couple’s life together with a promise to always love and support one another. The novel’s murderer kills couples just after this moment and takes their wedding rings as a trophy—a symbolic statement of power and sadism. The killer targets couples at an emotional high, taking pleasure in terrorizing them into a psychological nadir.

The novel echoes this juxtaposition of high and low elsewhere. Inspector Lindsay Boxer also rides a roller coaster of emotions. When she learns from her doctor that she has a blood disorder that can be fatal, Lindsay in at a very low point: divorced, lacking family support, and with only one friend. Her only source of self-esteem is her career, but this illness might mean she won’t live to see the end of her next case, let alone anything else. Lindsay feels so alone and desperate that she has a surprisingly emotional reaction to the scene of the Brandt murders.

The novel’s introduction of Chris Raleigh begins to change Lindsay’s emotional trajectory. As she gets to know him and gives in to her attraction, she experiences deep emotional fulfillment—the two are an excellent match for one another professionally, personally, and sexually.