A Dead Question - Tapa dura

'Ingenious, spattering its targets with doses of dry wit' Sunday Times 'Straight aim at the target of coherent storyline' Daily Telegraph

Two weeks away from giving birth, Detective Inspector Honey Laird is at a point when bending down is becoming increasingly difficult and straightening up again almost impossible, when her boss calls upon her to investigate Dr McGordon...her next door neighbour. On the outside, Dr McGordon appears to be the perfect doctor, giving services free in poor areas, providing care in underdeveloped countries, and even bringing patients to Britain (at his own expense) for special treatments. But when officers knock on his door, looking for witnesses to an accident, Dr McGordon, panicky and pale, reveals a guilty conscience about something and refuses to say anything. Aware that he's done something wrong but unsure of what, Honey - along with the help of an unsure young officer, her overprotective housekeeper, and her faithful Labrador, Pippa - dives into the case, using the computer, researching bank statements, and interviewing a slew of colourful neighbours, none of whom is allowed to know that Dr McGordon is under investigation. While at first Honey's husband thinks the case is a minor one, designed to keep Honey out of mischief, as she digs deeper, it becomes clear that everything, and everyone, is not as it seems, that the 'what' can be just as mysterious as the 'who'...and ultimately just as shocking.