Family Ties — Nicholas Rhea

Detective Superintendent Mark Pemberton needs a holiday. Hoping to get him out of his workaholic rut, his Chief assigns him a more laid-back case: providing security for US Vice-President Hartley on his trip to the UK.Hartley is visiting to research his family history so, prepared as ever, Pemberton gets the jump on his new charge and does some reconnaissance before the VP's arrival. But he finds a little more than he's bargained for. Among the prosperous ancestors dotting sleepy English villages, he stumbles across a strange death in the family dating back to 1916.Private James Hartley was found dead with a bullet in his brain but nothing more is known. Was it murder or suicide? The more Pemberton investigates, the more he is convinced something horrible took place and that the Hartley family themselves could have been involved.Desperate to solve this cold case, will Pemberton be able to uncover enough clues to solve this ninety-year-old mystery? Or will these dark family secrets remain hidden? Family Ties was first published in 1994 and was written by the best-selling author behind the beloved Heartbeat TV series.