Reality Checkpoint — Peter Turnbull

One hot, dry summer afternoon, taking his habitual route across the Fens, a walker strays from the marked path and, stopping to take a drink, glances down and sees a skull in the long grass. Excavating the grave, the police discover the remains of clothing, a rusted zip fastener. The skeleton is less than seventy years old: the death is a matter for the police.Assigned to the case is DI Sydney Household. With the invaluable information provided by forensic pathologist, Veronica Sleaford, he manages to identify the body as that of Edward de Beer, a student who went missing in the early 1970s. Then, Cambridge was divided firmly into 'town' and 'gown'; the lamp-post on Parker's Piece, Reality Checkpoint, the infamous marker between the two. The victim seemed to have been caught between these different worlds but now, thirty years later, there seems little hope of finding out what really happened.More pressing for Cambridge CID is the Cambridge Panther - a man who is terrorizing the young female community, abducting girls from the street and holding them hostage for days at a time. Leads are few, and the fear is that next time he may kill. When another girl is taken the hunt is on, but soon the lines between past and present become blurred and soon violence is dangerously close to those involved.