The Tate File

Andrew is going to be back on the island soon with another cold case for the unit to consider, but before he arrives, Bessie has a visitor. An old friend is worried about her son, who has been accused of stealing a valuable engagement ring. Bessie does her best to advise the woman on some steps her son can take to try to find out what really happened to the ring.

Then it's time for another cold case, and this month it's murder. Gareth Tate was enjoying a pub lock-in when he started feeling unwell. He stretched out in a booth and went to sleep, but when his friends tried to wake him at the end of the night, they discovered that he'd been stabbed to death. There are plenty of witnesses, but they'd all been drinking, and it seems impossible to piece together the evening's timeline when none of the statements seem to agree about anything.

While Bessie and the unit try to make sense of the muddled timeline, Bessie is also working to help her friend clear her son's name. Andrew is starting to feel better, and he's eager to explore more of the island with Bessie. The pair have to fit sightseeing in around two very different investigations in this twentieth book of the series.