Final Appointment - Tapa dura

Roy Hart's Inspector Roper series is building a following of readers who enjoy classic cozy English village mysteries. In Final Appointment, what appears to be a gruesome traffic accident is revealed to be murder.
When the headless body of ex-cop Gerald Pope is found next to a motorcycle, Inspector Roper investigates. Scrutinizing the circumstances of Pope's retirement, Roper finds a questionable record of arrests and a host of enemies, both on and off the police force, who may have wanted him dead.
As he delves deeply into Pope's past, Roper uncovers a tangled thread of guilt stretching through a quiet English town. Layers of motive and malice conceal the truth, which Roper pursues with subtle questions and dogged sleuthing.