DCI Hennessey and DS Yellich are summoned to the site of skeletal remains, exposed after a flood diverted the course of a stream. The pathologist, Louise D’Arcy, arrives too and declares first that the remains are about 12 to 15 years old, female - and parts of two separate bodies. Hennessey and Yellich are forced to trawl back into the past to determine which two women went missing at the same time, and how they were connected…. I love the Hennessey and Yellich series, set in York in contemporary times and featuring a DCI nearly at retirement age and a DS whose home life includes caring for an intellectually disabled young son. Unfortunately the books are hard to find; this one, for example, was published only 20 years ago, in 2002, but I only found it through an internet site that sources books from, among other places, libraries. Someone should bring these books back out, even if only in e-book editions, because Mr. Turnbull’s clear writing and compassionate characters deserve a far wider audience than they have right now. This is the fifth in the series and while it is always best to start at the beginning with a series in which the characters develop and relationships grow, one could really start with any, just to introduce the reader to these remarkable people; recommended. ( )

Enjoyable series