When Francine's case notes land on the desk of Dr Michelle, a forensic psychologist, the doctor is shocked by what she sees. Francine is a victim of rape, but she in turn has become a criminal - a killer. Francine's resolve in the face of her ordeal and its tragic aftermath, and her response when her assailant again enters her life, command our sympathy and demand a reconsideration of this vexed issue. Mary-Anne Zammit writes from the heart, yet her careful analysis of the mindset of offenders and the problem of recidivism make Torn Velvet a highly valuable social and criminological study.