Perfect Sins

British author Bannister’s well-constructed sequel to 2013’s Deadly Virtues finds Gabriel Ash, who was once involved in tracking hijacked munitions for national security, still searching for his wife and children, who were kidnapped by Somali pirates four years earlier. A long stay in a psychiatric ward has changed Ash, but it hasn’t kept him from pursuing leads to his missing family. Hazel Best, a police constable who befriended Ash in Deadly Virtues, introduces him to Lord Peregrine Byrfield and David Sperrin, who’s conducting an archeological survey on Byrfield’s estate north of London. When Sperrin unearths a relatively recent crude grave containing a young boy’s skeleton, Best declares it a crime scene. Rumors fly, and the subsequent police investigation uncovers secrets that affect both the Sperrin and the Byrfield families. Readers will look forward to seeing more of Bannister’s finely drawn leads—fragile but determined Ash and good-hearted, impetuous Best—especially after the shocking cliffhanger ending. [em]Agent: Jane Gregory, Gregory & Company (U.K.). (Dec.) [/em]