The Darkest Grave

DI HOGARTH’S JUDGMENT IS CALLED INTO QUESTION WHEN A LOCAL FARMER IS BRUTALLY MURDERED. MOTIVE IS EVERYWHERE HE LOOKS, BUT DI HOGARTH MUST DISCOVER THE TRUTH BEFORE A VICIOUS KILLER CAN CLAIM THE BLOOD-STAINED LAND.

DI Hogarth and DS Sue Palmer are called to a murder on the outskirts of town. Farmer Nigel Grave has been killed in brutal fashion at the start a family get-together. The old man was due to make a declaration about the future of his farm, but his grand plans appear to have died with him. Why was the farmer killed? Hogarth finds a farmhouse full of suspects. The farmer’s wife is a drunken harridan with a sordid past. The son has ambitions of his own. The interfering Goodwells simply won’t back off, and a sharp-edged beauty has designs all of her own.  DI Hogarth is sickened by the greed on display. As the crime scene manager picks over the murder, Hogarth spots a clue. Just what are the mysterious black grains beneath the blood-spattered hay? And what was the old man’s grand plan?

Secrets and lies return from the past.  Foreign workers are soon in the frame. And Hogarth’s killer hides among the sinister faces ranged all around.But that’s not all Hogarth has to deal with - A stalker lurks in the shadows, ready to destroy the woman he loves.

Sickening Greed. Lust past and present. A cop under pressure… and the murderer who killed an old man’s dream may yet strike again.

In an epic conclusion, DI Hogarth must make a gamble.  Lose and a killer goes free plus the DI loses all authority. Win and a killer will be flushed from his hiding place - but at what price?