‘A KILLER IN OUR MIDST?’ cried a newspaper headline to commemorate the disappearance of Mary Wilson. It is two decades since Britain’s first mass DNA sweep failed to incriminate a single local male. Mary was listed merely as a missing person.
Now archaeologists have unearthed human remains in Cummacatta Wood. The forensics match – age, sex, fragments of clothing… and dental records. But the murder hunt has only just begun when an outsider, a convicted serial offender confesses to the crime.
DI Skelgill is unconvinced. Into the fabric of this tightly knit community are woven ancient alliances, intrigues, and enmities. Where his predecessors failed, he is compelled to unravel the prophetic headline – for he believes the killer is still at large.