A Shortcut to Murder

When Sir Jackman Wennard â€" squire and racehorse breeder â€" is found during a fox hunt with a broken neck after falling from his horse, everyone assumes it’s an unfortunate accident. Dr Adam Bascom is not so sure.

Why did Wennard ride off on his own before the hunt had even begun? Where did he go and why return down a steep hill, riding at a full gallop? And why, if his horse stumbled and threw him over its head, was the corpse lying the wrong way round? The dead man’s son angrily dismisses Adam’s doubts and refuses to co-operate, forcing him Adam to reconstruct every step of Sir Jackman’s last morning in an attempt to get at what really happened. The true facts turn out to be anything but simple, and lead to a conclusion which shocks everyone involved.

A rich, multi-layered tale involving eloping lovers, furious villagers, cunning poachers and a spate of local highway robberies, all set in the idyllic landscape of north Norfolk at the end of the 18th century.