A traditional detective puzzler. After a laboriously detailed introduction to the isolated English village of Goose Green and environs, an ever-more-intricate network of clues emerges to fit into a densely woven scenario. Mrs Burge sets out with a collecting tin to raise donations for the local hospital, and never returns home; but her husband has also disappeared. As the bodies accumulate, quiet villagers turn out to have a shady past. A good page-turner. MB 1-ix-2018 ( )