Regina and Renata were identical twins and I mean IDENTICAL. As far as anyone could see there were no physical differences between them – even their own parents couldn't tell them apart. As twins often do, they developed a private language, twin-speak, which they used to converse between themselves. Mark, the son of a family friend, grew up with the girls and became a surrogate "big brother". Someone to turn to when a toy got broken or they had a problem.

As the girls grew older they developed into reasonably attractive young women but, as they were never apart, they avoided most of the hormone-induced advances of their male classmates. One night, after a party, the girls were driving home when the car broke down. The next day one twin is found raped and murdered with the other sister beside her speaking only "twin-speak".

As the surviving twin seemed oblivious to her surroundings the police could not determine which twin had been murdered and which survived. The footprints taken at birth had been lost and, as they were identical twins, their DNA was identical. The living twin, assumed to be Renata, was committed to a mental hospital to try and bring her back to reality. After a number of years she suddenly became coherent, speaking English, but suffering from near-total amnesia. She had no memory of her sister's murder or her family. The only person she remembered was Mark. After considerable therapy it was decided that she was ready to live outside the hospital in the real world. She had expressed an interest in attending University so Mark, now a graduate student and part-time lecturer, suggested that she audit a few of his lectures to get her used to normal student life.

All seemed to be going well. She insisted on completing some of the essay assignments given out during Mark's lectures, her writing, of a remarkably high standard, giving a shocking insight into the life of a "nutso". However, Renata still had bad days, when she was plagued by nightmares and woke screaming about blood and cold water. The bad days seeming to become more frequent and dramatic. Was Renata reverting to her previous uncommunicative self?

I will be honest, when I first heard that David and Leigh Eddings had written a crime thriller I was worried! There are certain authors that are stunningly good proponents of their genre but who you cannot begin to imagine them writing any other style. Having been a fan of their fantasy work for many years I was wondering if moving into crime fiction was such a good idea. More fool me! I should have had more confidence in them! I thought that Regina's Song was stunningly good. If it is anything to go by, I started reading at around 10pm yesterday, had to force myself to put it down and sleep at 1am, picked it up again at 6:45am and kept reading until it was finished. It isn't often that I read a book that is so compulsive.

The characters are almost "anti-Belgariad". Whereas Belgarion, Polgara etc. are total fantasy, Mark, Renata and the others are REAL! They are normal people (well, with the exception of Renata) with normal lives, worries and problems. They live in a normal town and go to a normal university. It is this total reality that makes the story so believable.

Now, a few facts of literary life. If you are an Eddings fan but don't really like crime fiction then think carefully before starting Renata's Song. Do not go into it expecting a fantasy story with a couple of murders. This is a gritty, no-nonsense thriller with the faintest hint of the supernatural. However, they beauty of the Eddings writing style is that it is eminently readable.

Now, the only remaining questions are a) when will the film be made and b) who on earth could play Renata?