A baby's bones - Rebecca Alexander

An archaeologist stumbles upon a centuries-old crime-and the trail of a modern-day murderer-in this "finely observed, beautifully written" mystery for fans of Elly Griffiths (Daily Mail)

Archaeologist Sage Westfield has been called in to excavate a sixteenth-century well, and expects to find little more than soil and the odd piece of pottery. But the disturbing discovery of the bones of a woman and newborn baby make it clear that she has stumbled onto an historical crime scene-one that is interwoven with an unsettling local legend of witchcraft and unrequited love.

Yet there is more to the case than a four-hundred-year-old mystery. The owners of a nearby cottage are convinced that it is haunted, and the local vicar is being plagued with abusive phone calls. Then a tragic death makes it all too clear that a modern murderer is at work . . .