Shallow Grave — Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Detective Inspector Bill Slider has always been keen on architecture -- what Atherton calls his edifice complex -- and The Old Rectory is the kind of house he would give anything to own. But the dead body of Jennifer Andrews, found in a hole on the terrace, rather spoils the view. It looks a straightforward case: Jennifer was a congenital flirt, and the hole was dug by her builder husband Eddie, who was violent and jealous. But questions remain unanswered. Why was Jennifer's body so unmarked? How did she reach her shallow grave unnoticed? And why would anyone want to be an estate agent?

As the investigation proceeds, it seems there is something rotten at the heart of the community surrounding the lovely old house. New suspects and motives keep crawling out of the woodwork, and when Slider finally gets a confession, it's from a wholly incredible source. To compound his troubles, he has a linguicidal new boss, more bills than a flock of pelicans, and a future ex-wife becoming less ex by the minute. In detection and in life, it seems, there is always more going on than meets the eye ...