The Cadaver Game

CI Gerry Heffernan and DI Wesley Peterson are attending a suspicious death.  A young woman has been dead in her cottage for some time.  Pathologist Dr. Colin Bowman suggests that she was possibly strangled.

Meanwhile back at the police station, DC Paul Johnson is concerned about a missing girl.  Her boyfriend hasn’t returned home either.  The missing girl is Paul’s cousin.

A few days later two bodies were discovered at the base of a cliff near the sea.  Both had been shot.  It turns out that the girl is Johnson’s cousin.

A dentist informs DC Trish Walton that the first dead woman’s dental records didn’t match the ones of the woman they thought was the victim.

Peterson’s sister suggests that the shooting of the young people could be related to a human hunt that was held in nearby Catton Hall over a century earlier.  The thought niggles at the back of Peterson’s mind, but then there is another shooting to distract his mind.

Later Peterson receives a call from his friend, Dr. Neil Watson, an archaeologist who. Is supervising a dig at Catton Hall.  They have discovered a body in the dig.

The question is, is the body related to their inquiries?  Author Kate Ellis’ latest mystery has some surprising twists before DI Peterson can figure out who was responsible for the deaths and why.  A good, quick read.