The Small Black Knife — Pamela Hill

So how could Julius Partridge, eminent scholar and author, apparently fall from the lethal rocky outcrop in the woods behind his cottage? And why should everyone in the sleepy, time-forgotten village of Bellenden assume his volatile wife, Elaine, is responsible? Journalist Tom Brackenbury, on compassionate leave after his wife's violent death, is drawn into solving what develops into a series of unnatural coincidences -- and two more killings. A mistrusted outsider, Tom uncovers layer upon layer of deceit and quickly discovers that nothing -- and no one -- is as it seems.

Then Tom meets Dora, and grasps at a second chance of happiness. They head for a honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands, only to find themselves embroiled in a centuries-old feud between rival clans -- again with murderous results. Expertly weaving suspicion and counter-suspicion in a web of intrigue, Pamela Hill cleverly reveals the truth behind so-called 'respectable' society in this tale of classic romance and suspense.