Bodyline — Simon Rae

The first of three intriguing thrillers starring Inspector Dalliance. The most idyllic of villages can be the most deadly.

The villagers of Little Bolton gather on the green one glorious Sunday afternoon for their weekly cricket match. With the game underway, nobody suspects that among the men in whites stands a killer. But when one of their number mysteriously collapses out on the field, Inspector Dalliance is sent in to investigate foul play. Soon enough he realizes that the rural idyll in which he finds himself is in fact a viper's nest of bitter feelings and intense rivalries. With the modern world encroaching on their traditional way of life, the stakes are higher for these people than Dalliance can imagine. He must root out the wrongdoers and heal this community in quiet turmoil, before it takes justice into its own hands once more.