AustLit

'A Friend in Need is the 3rd book in the Andromeda Fox series. Mathilda and Andy have finally paired up as a couple. Andy wants to treat Mathilda on her birthday and takes her to the snow for a long weekend, hoping that they will cement their relationship with a physical commitment. To Andy's delight, Tildy is willing and just as he is about to...make history...they are interrupted by a phone call. Tildy's friend Jenny has become a victim of the serial rapist targeting young policewomen. She's seriously injured and close to death. Tildy is the closest thing to family Jenny has so naturally she puts a stop to their lovemaking and wants to return home immediately to be with Jenny.

'When Jenny is finally released from hospital she moves in with them as she's traumatized and afraid to be on her own. Andy is fairly tolerant at the start, but Jenny is something of a nuisance houseguest, intruding upon him when he's trying to paint in his studio. Tildy's back at work by this time, so it's poor Andy that has to cope with her volatile mood swings and emotional upsets. Add to that that Jenny is seriously cramping his style and he has no privacy with Mathilda, he's in for a miserable and frustrating time.

'Mathilda seeing how upset he is suggests they have a go at catching the rapist themselves, and he's all for it. Anything to get Jenny out of the house. It's no bed of roses for Mathilda either as she had a taste of what Andy could offer at the snow and is feeling as frustrated as he. With a lot of coaxing she manages to get Jenny to talk about her attack and they pick up some new clues that she'd blocked from her memory after the attack. Part of their plan to get Jenny back to work is to enlist the help of her superior, Detective Senior Sargent Norman Oldfield, whom Jenny has long had a crush on. It works, and he convinces her to come back to work. With Jenny having access to police records again, they're back in business and start investigating possible suspects. It all comes to a head when the rapist turned killer (as one of his victims had died) targets Jenny again as she is the only person that can identify him. This time Jenny is more prepared and puts up a fight with Mathilda to back her. He doesn't stand a chance against two tough ladies. Much to Andy's delight, Jenny moves out to become a housemate of poor unsuspecting Sargent Oldfield, and he and Tildy finally get some time alone together.' (Publication summary)