Rupert Lazarus

High-flying solicitor Jane Kennedy returns to the seaside town she left as a teenager to take up the post of coroner, becoming an advocate for the dead as she investigates sudden, violent or unexplained deaths.

In 1994, a toddler disappeared from a small Welsh village, never to be seen again. 23 years later, in London, the mother of rising cello star Matilda Gray commits suicide, without apparent reason. Among her possessions, Matilda discovers tantalising evidence, linking her mother to the Welsh girl's disappearance all those years ago.

Frank Hathaway, a hardboiled private investigator, and his rookie sidekick Lu Shakespeare form the unlikeliest of partnerships as they investigate the secrets of rural Warwickshire's residents.