In this intriguing entry in Curzon's long-running Supt. Mike Yeadings series (Off Track
, etc.), the discovery of a young woman's body hanging upside down from an oak tree surrounded by a circle of scorch marks on a country estate baffles the crime scene investigators. When the postmortem reveals that the unknown woman has been dead for more than a year, the case appears even more strange. To complicate matters, Yeadings is shorthanded after one of the most experienced members of his Thames Valley team, Det. Sgt. Rosemary Zyczynski, is injured in a car accident. Yeadings recruits two extra constables to assist in what proves to be a most unusual murder inquiry. The trail leads to a group of locals who participate in an exploration game involving deserted cold war–era RAF bunkers. Those who like their British police procedurals with a tinge of the macabre will be rewarded. (May)
