A Perfect Death

In South Devon, a farmer reported flames in an area near his farm late one night.  When the firemen put them out, they discovered a body.  DCI Gerry Heffernan will have to attend to this case without his DI Wesley Peterson as he and his wife are vacationing in France.  He does have DS Rachel Tracey at hand, though.  Pathologist Colin Bowman, after examining the scene is sure that they have a murder of a woman on their hands.

Meanwhile, Peterson has been approached by an old university mate to see if he could look into a girl who had gone missing in the area Peterson and his wife, Pam, call home.  When the man doesn’t show up for a second meeting with information about the missing girl, they decide to do a bit of investigating.

Back home Tracey and Heffernan think that they have identified the victim.  However, DNA evidence proves that the victim is not who they thought it was.

The evening of the Petersons’ return home, an old cottage was torched.  Unbeknownst to the arsonist there was someone inside, and that person died.  Peterson is shocked when this victim turns out to be the man he and Pam had met in France.  Also the missing girl’s car was found nearby.  DNA this time matches the missing girl.  Who could have committed this brutal murder?

Could it be connected to a murder that had occurred over seven hundred years before?  Peterson’s friend, Dr. Neil Watson, is excavating an archeological site near where the girl was burned to death.  The site he is working on was the home of a man who had burned his wife to death for infidelity.  Is history repeating itself?

Author Kate Ellis has some secrets up her sleeve in this murder mystery, and although there are more deaths to come, there are also some surprises.  With the twists to the plot and the interesting conclusion, this is a very good read.