DI Yates

Shocking evidence is unearthed in the cellar of a British couple's mansion-and the crimes of the past may lead to tragedy in the present . . . Its name is Laurieston, but the villagers call it Sausage Hall-a Victorian mansion belonging to tycoon businessman Kevan de Vries and his ailing wife, Joanna. The couple is staying at their St. Lucia house until Kevan gets a call from DI Tim Yates saying that the mansion has been broken into-and insisting that Kevan return to the United Kingdom to explain the passport-forging operation the police have discovered in the cellar. Kevan knows nothing about the illicit activity and is horrified about the human remains that are also eventually unearthed at Laurieston. As he tries to take care of Joanna and their autistic son, Kevan fears that the investigation may reveal a different kind of crime, one he committed long ago. And as the South Lincolnshire police dig deeper, will shocking events both historical and present-day change his life forever?

In England's East Midlands, a harried police detective juggles multiple cases that soon reveal the depths of human depravity... DI Tim Yates has been following up for months on reports of missing farm machinery-with no success-when a local farmer and philanthropist is physically assaulted. Could this be a lead? If so, it doesn't take Yates very far, since the victim, Jack Fovargue, refuses to accept any help. Meanwhile, there's a more urgent case to attend to-a decapitated body has been found in the Fossdyke Canal. This may be the first clue that finally connects a series of recent disappearances: a paper girl out on her rounds, a prostitute abducted off the street, an immigrant woman who vanished after stepping off a bus. After frogmen find two more corpses in the canal, and Yates's researcher wife notes a similarity to a long-ago case someone is already in prison for, the situation starts becoming as murky as the canal itself...