Sleepyhead

It's rare for a young woman to die from a stroke and when three such deaths occur in short order, it starts to look like an epidemic. Then a sharp pathologist notices traces of benzodiazepine in one of the victims' blood samples and some damage to her neck ligaments, changing the cause of death from 'natural' to murder. The police struggle to find the killer until he reappears alive, and D.I. Tom Thorne believes the murderer has made a mistake, which might help catch him. The killer doesn't want to take lives but to incapacitate his victims, leaving them unable to move, speak, or act—only think. As Thorne, aided by a neurologist, begins to understand the method behind the murders, he realizes the case is beyond normal methods and must comprehend the killer's motivation to solve it.