Rachael had gone out to Baikie’s Cottage to do some mapping with
students but first she planned a restful weekend with her friend Bella.
Unfortunately out in the shed, she found Bella had hung herself. Bella
had had enough of looking after Dougie after his stroke.
Rachael wants to know the reason behind Bella’s suicide. She talks with
her mother about it. However, her mapping assignment must come first.
She has two other women working on the mapping; Anne and Grace. As
time goes by the pair don’t get along. Then one evening, Grace doesn’t
come back from her mapping excursion. The following morning she is
found dead.
Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope shows up with her sergeant Joe
Ashworth to conduct the investigation into Grace’s death. Her first
task is to learn what the women had been doing at Baikie’s Cottage. Had
Grace been killed as some part of industrial intimidation? However,
Anne and Rachael refuse to leave, which fits into Stanhope’s plans
perfectly. Rachel quickly realises that they are decoys. Rachel is
also sure that the deaths of Bella and Grace are related. How can she
and her mother, Edie prove it?
It isn’t until the last quarter of the novel that author Anne Cleeves
truly introduces DI Vera Stanhope. Stanhope seems to be a plodding
detective, however she does get the job done in her own steady way.
This is a new series for me, and I’m unsure how it will go.
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