The Pothole with A Body Count: Department of Minor Catastrophes (Case One, Part 1 4)

There are two ways to bury a crime in a small municipality: beneath six inches of fresh asphalt, or inside a forgotten filing cabinet. When a newly resurfaced road on Priors Lane unexpectedly collapses into a bathtub-sized void, disgraced barrister turned Senior Correspondence Officer Elodie Voss is dispatched to investigate a routine ratepayer grievance. Relegated to the windowless basement of the Public Complaints and Correspondence Office (PCCO), Elodie is expected to log the complaint, issue a Form 14-A, and let the bureaucracy swallow the mess. But Elodie Voss doesn't let things lie-and Priors Lane isn't just defective pavement. As the autumn downpour washes away the sub-base, a shocking discovery emerges from the trench: - An illegal radioactive waste dump hidden beneath a luxury housing development.- A web of financial kickbacks linking corporate developers to high-ranking councilors.- The buried corpse of environmental whistleblower Neil Parrish. Facing physical threats, slashed tyres, and an aggressive internal audit designed to liquidate her department, Elodie teams up with her motionless, tea-drinking supervisor Mr. Abernathy to turn the council's own suffocating paperwork into a lethal weapon. The Pothole with a Body Count is the sharp, hilarious, and dark opening case of a modern British institutional mystery series where minor municipal catastrophes uncover major corporate crimes. Perfect for fans of Mick Herron's Slough House, Richard Osman, and dry British satirical mystery.