The Body Under the Sands

A terrible crime that no one witnessed. Two suspects that everyone believes are guilty...

Two soldiers recently returned from the Great War are spending their summer larking about, chasing girls, drinking, smoking, and forlornly trying to find gainful employment. Their lives are turned upside down when a girl is murdered on the seafront and they fall under suspicion.

The accusations against them snowball. Surely it was them that other beachgoers saw with the girl, Anne Talbot. Surely, they fit the description. They had extra money that day: the proceeds from robbing her? And one of the men's suits was stained red - surely not just the result of blackberry picking?

They are convicted by a juggernaut of evidence, although most is circumstantial. And in fact, they were with Anne Talbot that day. But did they do it? Inspector Blades and seconded Scotland Yard investigator CI David Walker are pretty sure they did. And they are determined to make the men go down for the horrific crime.

Facing the death penalty, one of the men begins to suspect his friend did in fact commit the murder. But will he betray his brother in arms to save his own skin?

THE BODY UNDER THE SANDS is a highly original murder mystery set in the years after the First World War in the fictional northern seaside town of Birtleby. A gripping murder mystery, the book is also an entertaining insight into the mores of the time, the human consequences of war, and the fallibility of humankind.

The full list of James Andrew's books featuring Inspector Stephen Blades is as follows:

1. THE BODY UNDER THE SANDS

2. DEATH WAITS FOR NO LADY

3. THE RIDDLE OF THE DUNES

4. THE SUITCASE MURDERER