Part of Inspector Banks, book 10
First published 2000
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks stares at the skeletal remains emerging from the drained Thornfield Reservoir. The drought has revealed more than just the foundations of a village submerged decades ago. A murder victim from the 1940s lies exposed, waiting for justice. Banks teams up with Detective Sergeant Annie Cabot to piece together a crime that predates their careers by half a century. The investigation pulls them into the secrets of wartime England, where ordinary people made extraordinary choices under pressure. As they dig deeper into the past, Banks and Cabot discover that some secrets were meant to stay buried. The case forces them to confront how war changes people and how guilt can span generations. What started as a routine examination of old bones becomes a journey into the heart of human nature during crisis.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: cold-case, secrets-from-the-past
Setting: Thornfield Reservoir, England
Period: 1940s, Decades Ago
480 pages · Paperback · AVON Books