Brilliant, sharp-edged suspense - vintage Sandford. 'A brilliant writer' Guardian; 'Few do it better than Sandford' Daily Telegraph; 'Impossible to resist' Carl Hiaasen; 'Sandford is a cunning writer, he constantly avoids the routine or expected with intelligent and surprising new wrinkles' Washington Press; 'Sandford has no peers' Associated Press; The Empress File is the first book in John Sandford's acclaimed crime series set in the shadowy world of high-profit scams and con games. With the same riveting human insight he brings to the murderers and manhunters of his acclaimed Prey novels, Sandford takes us into the minds of two irresistible con artists - Kidd and LuEllen - a winning pair of lovers and liars plotting the ultimate sting. Their target is the wealthy (and corrupt) mayor of a small Mississippi river town. Their set-up includes buying a houseboat, assuming false identities and exposing scandals. Their scam is perfect. Until everything goes wrong...