DEEPER THAN THE DEAD by Debra Webb

 4* Decent police procedural with twists, believably 'shades of grey' characters, and what feels like a family healing together.

This is an interesting tale of a soon-to-be-sacked - probably - detective who returns to her home town when a body is discovered in a cave in the family property. She and her sisters, one a former junkie and juvenile drinker now turned funeral director, and the other for whom the less nice things of life don't really exist (other than growing up without a mother), end up coming together to conceal secrets long buried, pardon the pun, and to try and keep the investigating cop - her teen boyfriend - from looking at their family too closely. This is a shades-of-grey sort of book, where no one's out-and-out bad, but aren't entirely open and honest about the past. 

Add in a family that yields power locally, side characters who've been easily led, missing memories, a character with dementia, the discovery of more bodies - more shades here - and this is an interesting story, but ugh, there's a discomfort that the truth doesn't out, especially whe  the detective decides to put down roots. And collaborate with the local police professionally. I suspect that the ex-boyfriend has a hint that she's concealing stuff, but he doesn't go there, not right now at least. There's another book in the series in about 7 months' time that's worth pre-ordering.

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