A dark anatomy

The year is 1740. Geroge II is on the throne but England's remoter provinces remain largely a law unto thenselves. In Lancashire a grim discovery has been made: a squire's wife, Doleres Brockletower, lies in the woods near her home, Garlick Hall, her throat brutally slashed. called to the scene Coroner Titus Cragg finds the Brockletower household awash with rumour and suspicion. He enlists the help of his astute young friend, doctor Luke Fidelis, to throw light on the case. But this is a world in which forensic science is in its infancy, and policing hardly exisits. Embarking on thier first gripping investigation, Cragg and Fidelis are faced with superstition of witnesses, obstruction by local offcials, and denuciations from the squire himself.