DEATH ON BOARD IN DETAIL WITH PAULINE ROWSON

May 1951. It’s unseasonably cold and dank when Scotland Yard’s Inspector Alun Ryga alights from the Paddington to Penzance night train. This journey will mark his fifth investigation outside London as he’s sent to investigate the death of eminent Harley Street skin specialist, Sir Bernard Crompton, who was found dead on board his new yacht drifting off the coast of Cornwall.

The on-scene doctor declared that Crompton died of natural causes, but a break-in at his Harley Street premises while he was away — and the fact that Crompton has friends in high places — has deemed that Ryga must investigate, much to the chagrin of the local chief constable.

Sir Bernard’s sea charts, logbook, ration book and cheque book are all missing. But five pieces of rock are discovered in his pocket. Then another man is found dead in an isolated cove. He too has five pieces of rock in his pocket. The victim’s ID card and ration book reveal him to be Ralph Ackland, a mine inspector from the Ministry of Fuel and Power who visited the area frequently during the war and is still working for the department.

Ryga’s enquiries are met by a wall of silence — it seems that no one wants to help him find the killer. Unperturbed, Ryga continues with his investigation and more disturbing facts come to light — he’s beginning to understand why the locals were reluctant to share information. When Ryga forms a strong, intuitive bond with mine licensee Jory Logan, one of the principle suspects and a former Japanese POW, the nightmarish memories of his captivity in a German prisoner of war camp during WWII return to haunt him.

As Ryga peels back the layers of the investigation with help from Sergeant Pascoe and Sergeant Jacobs, he discovers a shocking and deeply disturbing secret — and the reason why so many people don’t want the killer to be found.

This case tests Ryga to the core. Perhaps this is one investigation he shouldn’t solve . . .