Guilty as Sin by Bill Kitson

Another baffling and complex investigation awaits Mike Nash and the team when skeletal remains are discovered by accident in a remote location in the Yorkshire Dales. When another body is discovered close by, Nash wants the whole area scanned for more remains.

When more bodies are discovered, it looks like there’s a serial killer on the loose.

Attention falls on Demetra Sinclair, who went missing 16 years ago. Has her body been found? Her husband, Nicholas is serving life for her murder, and that of her alleged lover, but protests his innocence. It also looks like he could have killed the others until tests reveal some of the remains were buried while Sinclair was in prison.

As a slow and challenging investigation follows, Nash begins to doubt if Sinclair’s a killer. But can he find out one way or the other?

It’s another twisting, big scale investigation for the small but tight team as they slowly put the pieces together. Nash has always been a charismatic lead, who often takes an unorthodox approach to murder investigations. The characters and their relationships lift the whole story, which has moments of great emotion alongside the investigation.

It can be read as a standalone, but if you want to fully appreciate the characters and relationships, it’s best to follow them from the start of this engaging and consistent series.

Description

Sixteen years ago.

Expectant mother Demetra Sinclair goes missing in Layton Woods, high in the Yorkshire Dales.

Her body is never found, and the man thought to be her lover is also killed in a brutal attack. Demetra’s husband Nick is convicted of both murders, but maintains his innocence.

Now.

Mike Nash returns from his holiday in the warm Spanish sun only to be called out to the cold, remote Layton Woods. The remains of a woman have been unearthed. Has Demetra finally been found?

Then three more skeletons — two women and a man — are discovered nearby.

But Demetra was pregnant when she went missing. So where’s the baby?

As the bodies pile up, Detective Mike Nash and his team are in a race against time — and the elements — to catch a killer from the past.