The Dungeon House: A Lake District Mystery

DCI Hannah Scarlett plays a much larger role in this seventh series entry (after Frozen Shroud) than historian Daniel Kind, and this results in a plot that is more procedural and less historical than previous titles. Hannah, who heads up a cold-case team, is investigating a missing-persons case from three years ago, when two more women disappear. Ties to a decades-old love-triangle murder surface, seeming to bind the three investigations and encouraging Hannah to revisit the earlier murder. Her relationship with Daniel simmers in the background as she decides whether to move into her own home and out of Daniel's. Set against the atmospheric backdrop of the remote Cumbrian coast, Edwards's twisted story of greed and obsession is peopled with a wide variety of damaged characters, furthering interest. Much of the plot is revealed through interviews and conversations, giving a slightly subdued tone to even the most harrowing events depicted.