Detective Sergeant Glyn Capaldi, in disgrace and exiled from Cardiff to the deep heart of rural Wales, is called to the discovery of a human skeleton at a remote site in the hills during excavation work for a new wind farm. The body is missing its head and hands, making it unidentifiable. When other bodies are uncovered, Capaldi’s superiors assume that it is either the work of a hit squad or a serial killer, and that the site is just a dumping ground.
Capaldi is not convinced. To him, the remoteness of the location points to some local knowledge. However, an apparent suicide in the valley, along with incriminating evidence, appears to back-up his superiors’ theory. Believing that they have found the killer, they move the investigation to the city to try and discover the identity of the victims. Capaldi is left in place to tidy up the loose ends. He sets about trying to discover a motive among the varied characters that inhabit the area. To achieve this he also has to try and unravel the mystery of who these dead people were, and why they were buried in this particular location all those years ago.
Ewart Hutton's new novel provides a thrilling story and a most welcome revisit of this fascinating character and atmospheric setting.