INFORMED CONSENT

Assisted by his ever-growing cadre of constables, DCI George Hennessey (Turning Point, 2008, etc.) investigates the death of two brothers.

It wasn’t like Edwin Hoole to walk when he could drive. So when Chalkie White, one of the few remaining foot patrolmen in York, finds his body lying on a local street, Hoole’s wife Vivienne instantly suspects that something’s amiss with his death. Pathologist Louise D’Acre confirms that suspicion when she finds a subdural hematoma, an injury that often leaves its victims mortally injured but capable of seeking help. Confined to his desk because of his supervisor Commander Sharkey’s irrational fear that he’ll meet the same fate as Sharkey’s teacher Johnny Taighe, who died of a premature heart attack when he was made to teach senior math, Hennessey sends his team in his stead. DC Thomson Ventnor learns from Vivienne that Harold was suspicious about his brother Harold’s death. Leonard, the surviving Hoole brother, tells DC Reg Webster and DC Carmen Pharoah that Harold, a man who loved physical exercise, was found dead in the middle of the day in front of the television shortly after taking all the equity out of his house. DS Sommerled Yellich pries more family information from Ruth de Vries, Harold’s first wife, and confronts Eric Breathnyck, a local journalist who’s been stirring the pot. But it takes more legwork, including an excursion into the village of South Pidsey, which welcomes no stranger, before justice is finally served.

A smidgen of twists and a smattering of turns enliven typical Turnbull fare.