Book description
Detective-Inspector Benjamin Jurnet is in that most common predicament
of the human condition: desperately in love. Torn between joy and
trepidation about his reunion with his beloved Miriam after a year's
separation, he decides to take her on a drive to Lanthrop, a quaint
English village with a lovely strip of beach along the sea. It is to be
something of a holiday, even though Jurnet-once a copper, always a
copper-does plan to stop by the dig where an archaeologist has
complained that someone is tampering with the relics of Queen Boadicea.
Jurnet and Miriam find a retreat made for lovers, but pleasure abruptly
turns back to business when a brown, leathery arm, ending in a hand
flexed like a beckoning claw, rears out of the sand like an accusation.
The arm is attached to a body that is decidedly dead. In his ensuing
investigation, Jurnet discovers that life in scenic Lanthrop is not as
idyllic as it appears. A murder, a probably suicide, and a herd of
pedigree goats with their throats slashed all prove that there throats
slashed all prove that there is far more buried in the picturesque
village than an archaeological treasure. As his work separates him from
Miriam yet again, Jurnet must confront the intricacies of love and
desire. For love sometimes leads to murder, and it is only by probing
the mysteries of the human heart - including his own - that Jurnet can
find the solutions in this powerful and deeply satisfying novel of
detection. 'S. T. Haymon is a strong, heated writer who does not flinch
from entering uneasy territory.' Spectator 'Haymon is one of the most
elegant writers around; her characters are complex and interesting,
plotting is exact, and she has unerring feel for place.' The Times
Sylvia Theresa Haymon was born in Norwich, and is best known for her
eight crime fiction novels featuring the character Inspector Ben Jurnet.
Haymon also wrote two non-fiction books for children, as well as two
memoirs of her childhood in East Anglia. The Ben Jurnet series enjoyed
success in both the UK and the US during Haymon's lifetime: Ritual
Murder (1982) won the prestigious CWA Silver Dagger Award from the Crime
Writers' Association. Stately Homicide (1984), a skilful variation on
the country house mystery, was praised by the New York Times as a
'brilliantly crafted novel of detection...stylish serious fiction', and
favourably compared to the work of Dorothy L. Sayers.
