Cruel Deceit — Robert Appleton

DI Bruce McCoy was too pre-occupied in torturing himself with mind games about his seemingly unjust enforced well publicised retirement to notice that his wife, Sally, manageress of the ‘Dreams come true' charity shop in Bladdington, was falling victim to the crippling effects of Dementia.
This stark realisation only hit home to him only after he'd experienced the acute embarrassment of having an empty bank account when making the purchase of a car of his dreams. Sally claimed to have no knowledge of what could have happened even if she was the one who looked after their financial affairs.
It was only after McCoy had pressed to involve the police in the matter that DCI Dick Starr, DI Cora Grey and DI Max Cooper soon discovered Sally had been befriended on a social network site by a recipient of the ‘Dreams come true' funding while supporting a young boy dying from leukaemia in a childrens' hospital in Florida.
In chasing the trail of the missing thousands McCoy is forced not only to confront an old bitter adversary, but also the seeds of abject hatred of this particular officer planted in others which had flourished over the passing years.
Amidst a barbaric scene of deranged dogs and other poor animals being torn apart at a clandestine dog fight to the great joy of a blood lust crowd, the police give chase to the violent suspects which culminates in a dramatic scene to save the life of one of the perpetrators of the cruel deceit.