DI Daniel Skelgill has just started fishing in the middle of Bassenthwaite Lake when he receives a phone call telling him that there has been a murder at a hotel by the name of Bewaldeth Hall. Fortunately, he doesn’t have far to go to get there.
Awaiting him at the hotel is DS Emma Jones. The doctor attending the scene is Maria Garcia Gonzalez, a locus for the usual doctor. She thinks that the man died at about 3:00 a. m. He had been cut on the back of the neck.
The hotel had been booked by an advertising firm for a get together. Mrs. Grotenus, the hotel owner, tells the two police officers that one of the guests didn’t show up. She also discovers that one of a pair of kukri knives is missing.
The dead man was a partner in the firm, which had rented the hotel. The surviving partner, Dermott Goldsmith, is a self-important individual. Jones learns that the missing man had been dismissed the previous week by Krista Morocco, head of the London office.
The investigation takes Skelgill and Jones to Edinburgh where they speak to the accountant who does the advertising firm’s books plus others associated with the firm. They then fly to London to question people from that office who were at the party. There Ms. Morocco informs them that another firm had stolen business from them, and they were in the process of suing for breach of contract. She also reports of an American firm headhunting her, however she is suspicious about the way that they went about it.
With plenty of suspects, a couple of blackmail letters and no culprit captured, Skelgill’s boss is threatening to turn the case over to DI Smart.
How will Skelgill and Jones solve the murder before it is taken off their hands? Surprisingly, it is a fishing trip that gives Skelgill the clue. Author Bruce Beckham has started this series off with a good mystery, which although slow to get started, turns into an excellent page turner.
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