At Death's Window

DI Peter Shaw has a volunteer job with the RNLI, and when he receives a call out he doesn’t hesitate.  Saving a family caught by the incoming tide is something he’s been trained to do.  When they rescue the family, they tell him of a body they had seen where they were rescued from.

At the same time, DS George Valentine is meeting with a reporter, planning to get a story about recent burglaries released, which the Chief Constable doesn’t want in the press.

Tom Hadden the local forensic scientist assumes that the man had been dead at least 24 hours.  Valentine points out that since it was weighted down, it was left as a warning to others.

While working their investigation of the dead man, Shaw and Valentine are called to a couple of burglaries that fit in with those that Valentine had passed on to the reporter.  One referenced the date of the death of their victim.  Shaw is now convinced that the two cases are linked.

A few days later another body is found, in this case in a fish monger’s.  It is a man who has been shot at close range in the heart.  This time they have an identity because this man delivered fish to the monger.

Are they in for more killings?  Shaw and Valentine have an intriguing set of cases on their plate and author Jim Kelly has the reader wondering how they will gather evidence to solve them.  A good, quick read.