Dead Man Deep

When lifeboat volunteer DI Shona Oliver receives a Mayday call coming from Kilcatrin Island, she soon faces a major incident. Upon the shore is the badly burned body of a man, and a boy lies gravely injured nearby. Strewn around them on the beach are scores of WWII incendiary bombs, presumably washed up by the tide from Beaufort’s Dyke, an offshore arms dump deep in the Irish Sea.

The victim turns out to be a local fisherman – his son the other victim – and it rocks the tight-knit community on the shores of the Solway Firth. Shona has to distance herself from the family, due to her friendship with Laura Carlin, the widow. But she can’t ignore the hardship many of her neighbours are experiencing, as fishing quotas and closed cockle beds take their toll.

Anger is directed at the MOD, who are assumed to be covering up a PR scandal. As the beaches are shut, livelihoods, including Shona’s own family B&B business, are under threat. Arguments erupt at home when a journalist comes to stay and Shona’s 16-year-old daughter Becca joins an eco-campaign group, run by an idealistic young woman named Willow.

As further deaths occur and suspicious behaviour seems to be found at every turn Shona makes, it’s impossible for her to get to the truth. She must work with her team to follow the evidence and earn the trust of those who know more than they’ve been willing to reveal. But blind loyalty may mean she’s too late to save those still in danger – including herself.