Trama

Vera delves into the tragic last months of a failed novelist after he is gunned down on a remote Northumberland moor.

Shane Thurgood, recently returned from Newcastle to his native village, is found dead of a single gunshot wound, a mile away from a burnt out van belonging to local poacher Linus Campion. Campion points the finger at gamekeeper Allen Barnes, father of his ex-wife Vanessa and of Clara Peyton, who is married to wealthy estate owner Will. Shane had come home to sell his late grandfather's farm to the Peytons but pulled out at the last minute, as he had fallen back in love with the countryside where he grew up and where Allen taught him to shoot. Shane had also written a successful novel, based on his relationship with the Barnes sisters when they were young and Vera looks to it for clues as to a murder motive, especially after Vanessa had visited him the day before his death to warn him to stop stalking Clara. However the death proves to be anything but calculated and concerned less with romance than with a long-standing rural tradition.—don @ minifie-1

DCI Vera Stanhope and DS Joe Ashworth investigate the murder of Shane Thurgood who was killed at close range from a shot from a high-powered rifle. Thurgood was born and raised in the area but had only recently returned after the death of his grandfather to settle matters related to the estate. According to Thurgood's solicitor, Thurgood had planned to sell his grandfather's farm to the Peytons and had only recently pulled out of a deal where he would have received 20% over the asking price. Suspicion initially falls on Allen Barnes, gamekeeper for the Peyton estate. Mrs. Peyton and her sister Vanessa Barnes had both known Thurgood in their youth and its believed that his only published novel was a roman a clef about his relationship with them. Vera's mobile phone provides the clue to solving the case.—garykmcd