Judith L. (jlautner) reviewed on 3/15/2021 + 105 more book reviews

A beautiful woman is found, naked, thrown upon the rocks near the sea, below Houns-tout cliff in southern England. She had drowned and somehow been tossed by the waves on a rocky area not easily accessible by foot. She is found by a couple of boys who then tell a young man who was hiking in the area. A garbled message is sent to the emergency services, resulting in a helicopter hovering above the body in an effort to rescue the woman. She is beyond rescue.

Also on the scene is a young woman on horseback and soon PC Ingram, who secures the scene and takes note of his surroundings.

The dead woman, Kate Sumner, is the wife of an older man who seems, alternately, distressed by her death and yet quietly cold about her. Many people in the small community believe Kate was bored with her marriage and with the small community to which the couple had moved. Some thought she might have been having an affair.

There turn out to be no lack of suspects, and each one is seen as the likely one until another is. It's enough to make a reader dizzy.

The investigation involves a few police detectives along with PC Ingram, who seems to have a good head on his shoulders. Each has something to offer and ultimately the answer is found. But not without quite a few twists and quite a few characters.

In some ways this novel reminded me of Agatha Christie's works, rather like an updated Christie, as it focuses a lot on characters and even has a bit of a love interest. Both Christie and Walters have senses of humor, and that humor is not lacking here. A thoroughly enjoyable classic detective story.

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