Past Tense - Couverture rigide

Josephine Short was clearly a very practical woman but it also appears she was a woman with a secret or two. When her great-nephew's wife, Janet Wakefield, gets a call from the Berebury Nursing Home, she's somewhat taken aback. Not only does it come as a surprise to hear that her husband's estranged great aunt has passed away, but more surprising is the fact she had been living locally for some years. Janet is sure that her husband Bill was the last of Josephine's close family, so imagine her surprise when a handsome young man approaches her at the funeral and introduces himself as Josephine's grandson. Janet has never even heard of a child, never mind a grandchild. Detectives Sloan and Crosby find themselves assigned two rather puzzling cases. First, there's the young woman's body which has been discovered in the River Alm. And then there's the mysterious break-in at Berebury Nursing Home. To be precise, it's Josephine Short's room at the Nursing Home that's been entered, although nothing seems to be missing. What could the intruder have been after? It becomes apparent to Sloan and Crosby that the two cases are connected - but who can the killer be?

'Never less than elegant and mischievously sharp' The Times --The Times