The West Pennine moors, endless miles of unspoilt, windswept beauty. A haven for the weekend walker, and nature lover. A playground, for those with disposable income.
Though when the mutilated remains of a fourteen-year-old boy are discovered, it becomes apparent someone is using the desolate landscape as a killing field.
When seventeen-year- old Jenna Fotheringay writes to author Patrick Fossey, she hardly imagines he will take an interest in her research. Unlike many of the girls in the nearby town, she is in no hurry to lose her virginity and gain a cocaine habit. Rather, she spends her days at the local library, searching old microfiche films, and devouring all she can about the Radfield family. Weekends are spent with her grandfather scouring the local countryside. Searching for clues, which will shed light on the powerful landowners who once owned great swathes of the countryside, including the farm, she now calls home.
When Fossey agrees to pay her a visit, Jenna is in some kind of heaven. Although when she takes Fossey to the old gamekeeper’s cottages, neither of them is prepared for the horror that lies within.
Ronnie Fotheringay is a farmer to the core, dark earth beneath his fingernails, money in the bank and bailer twine holding up his trousers. A man raised on the land who adores his only granddaughter. He sowed the seeds, which instilled in her a love of the past. Now in his twilight years he lives for the times they share, the long walks and imparting of knowledge which Jenna, absorbs with relish.
At first, he is delighted when Fossey takes an interest in her research. Yet as fear begins to grip the local community, Ronnie begins to wonder if it was a mistake, as the writer starts to delve into a history Ronnie would sooner lay buried.
Like the town, DS Lasser feels jaded, frayed around the edges, and losing interest in a job he no longer sees as relevant. Families live hand to mouth, fathers spending years on the dole, mothers eking out an existence, supplemented by the occasional win on the bingo, and their offspring running wild.
A town on the skids, no jobs no money, and no hope.
So, when Billy Jones fails to return home it is hardly earth shattering news. A family of thieves, and piss artists, the father and eldest son are doing time and young Billy is rapidly following suit.
As clues are unearthed that lead directly to the Radfield family, Lasser becomes convinced they have found their man.
Ashley Radfield, last of the local aristocracy, a man who has led a life of privilege and undeserved respect. Now along with his ageing father he lives in the rambling manor house. Paint peeling from the windows and weeds in the gutter, mothballed rooms, and a huge kitchen like the cutting room of an abattoir. For the Radfields the days of prosperity and huntsman’s balls are a distant memory.
However, when another body is revealed, Lasser’s convictions are thrown into turmoil. It is all too easy, the clues too convenient, someone is playing a vicious game, someone with a burning hatred for the Radfield family.
As the long hot summer ends and the nights grow longer, Lasser finds himself in a race against time as he tries to unravel the dark secrets that bind the two families. Secrets stretching back over four decades, blackmail and murder reaching out to ensnare the innocent as well as the guilty.
Though when the mutilated remains of a fourteen-year-old boy are discovered, it becomes apparent someone is using the desolate landscape as a killing field.
When seventeen-year- old Jenna Fotheringay writes to author Patrick Fossey, she hardly imagines he will take an interest in her research. Unlike many of the girls in the nearby town, she is in no hurry to lose her virginity and gain a cocaine habit. Rather, she spends her days at the local library, searching old microfiche films, and devouring all she can about the Radfield family. Weekends are spent with her grandfather scouring the local countryside. Searching for clues, which will shed light on the powerful landowners who once owned great swathes of the countryside, including the farm, she now calls home.
When Fossey agrees to pay her a visit, Jenna is in some kind of heaven. Although when she takes Fossey to the old gamekeeper’s cottages, neither of them is prepared for the horror that lies within.
Ronnie Fotheringay is a farmer to the core, dark earth beneath his fingernails, money in the bank and bailer twine holding up his trousers. A man raised on the land who adores his only granddaughter. He sowed the seeds, which instilled in her a love of the past. Now in his twilight years he lives for the times they share, the long walks and imparting of knowledge which Jenna, absorbs with relish.
At first, he is delighted when Fossey takes an interest in her research. Yet as fear begins to grip the local community, Ronnie begins to wonder if it was a mistake, as the writer starts to delve into a history Ronnie would sooner lay buried.
Like the town, DS Lasser feels jaded, frayed around the edges, and losing interest in a job he no longer sees as relevant. Families live hand to mouth, fathers spending years on the dole, mothers eking out an existence, supplemented by the occasional win on the bingo, and their offspring running wild.
A town on the skids, no jobs no money, and no hope.
So, when Billy Jones fails to return home it is hardly earth shattering news. A family of thieves, and piss artists, the father and eldest son are doing time and young Billy is rapidly following suit.
As clues are unearthed that lead directly to the Radfield family, Lasser becomes convinced they have found their man.
Ashley Radfield, last of the local aristocracy, a man who has led a life of privilege and undeserved respect. Now along with his ageing father he lives in the rambling manor house. Paint peeling from the windows and weeds in the gutter, mothballed rooms, and a huge kitchen like the cutting room of an abattoir. For the Radfields the days of prosperity and huntsman’s balls are a distant memory.
However, when another body is revealed, Lasser’s convictions are thrown into turmoil. It is all too easy, the clues too convenient, someone is playing a vicious game, someone with a burning hatred for the Radfield family.
As the long hot summer ends and the nights grow longer, Lasser finds himself in a race against time as he tries to unravel the dark secrets that bind the two families. Secrets stretching back over four decades, blackmail and murder reaching out to ensnare the innocent as well as the guilty.
