The Body At Saltmere: Price of Silence

A dead woman on the Saltmere coast. A witness who insists she never knew her. And a secret buried in Greywick's past that someone will kill to protect. Before dawn, a woman is found dead beneath the cliffs at Saltmere. It looks like a tragic fall. But when forensic evidence suggests she was alive when she went over, Detective Ruth Calder knows she is looking at murder. Nearby, a barefoot woman is found shaken, injured and covered in sand. She claims the dead woman attacked her. She gives Ruth a name, then takes it back. She says she doesn't know the victim. But the victim's phone tells a very different story. Marion Hale had been calling the witness for months. She had also been digging into the troubled history of Greywick Trust, an organisation once responsible for children who were moved between institutions under different names. Now former residents are receiving secret settlements. Old documents are disappearing. Someone is paying people to stay silent. And Marion had discovered something she was willing to use against them. As Ruth and her partner Jamie Bell follow a trail of confidential agreements, missing records and long-buried transfers, they uncover a network that reaches from Greywick's institutions to a private coastal recovery centre, a retired solicitor and a police officer who signed documents years ago. Then another former resident is found dead. Suddenly, this is no longer one murder. Someone is working through a list. With a killer determined to decide who deserves justice, Ruth must separate genuine victims from dangerous lies and uncover the truth before another person dies. The Body at Saltmere is a gripping British cozy mystery filled with secrets, suspicious characters, forensic clues and a determined female detective. Perfect for readers who love atmospheric small-town murder mysteries, police procedurals with a cozy feel, hidden secrets, cold cases, and twisty investigations where every piece of evidence matters. The truth was buried for years. Now someone is making sure it stays buried.