DI Wesley Peterson has the dubious duty of informing his boss, DCI Gerry
Heffernan, that a former killer, Lilith Benley is back at her home and
is reporting a burglary there. She had served eighteen years for
killing two teenage girls alongside her mother. When Peterson and
Heffernan get to her place, she reports a book stolen. She also wants
her case reopened because she says she was innocent. Heffernan responds
that it can’t be unless she has new information.
Not long after this the body of a young woman is discovered on a farm
where a reality tv show is being filmed. When Heffernan and Peterson
are at the farm to do some questioning, one of the stars of the show
takes off. Heffernan orders that the man be brought back. He also
questions the woman who lives next door and was the killer of the two
girls. It is only by chance that they are able to identify the woman.
Meanwhile at a house that Dr. Neil Watson has been supervising the
renovation of as an archaeologist, a tiny coffin has been discovered in a
wall. It contains a doll like figure, which has pins sticking into
strategic positions. When the woman, for whom the house was being
renovated, brings a box filled styrofoam beads to pack the coffin in,
she discovers a knife of some sort in it. Shortly after he leaves with
the coffin, his breaks fail and he is involved in a serious accident.
Shortly after Neil’s accident, another coffin is found in the wall.
Also, a mechanic has discovered that Neil’s brake lines had been cut.
Who would want to kill an archaeologist?
Lilith Benley is the prime suspect, yet when Heffernan and Peterson go
to interview her, they find that her house has been broken into, and a
doll with a javelin-like needle piercing it lying on the floor. Has she
also been killed?
Author Kate Ellis has a few twists left to her plot, and a surprising
conclusion before the case is solved. Once again, Ellis has woven a
current case well with an historical case, making the two very enjoyable
reading.
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