While out walking, Polly Evans' dog discovers the remains of a body in a badger sett, on private lands. D.I. Henry Ford is called out to investigate. Is the body that of Tommy Boltor, from a local criminal family. He is soon identified as such. Meanwhile Ruth Long reports her husband ex-vicar Owen , 70, missing after five days to D.C. Wallace. Ford and his team must unravel the mysteries. An enjoyable and well-written crime story with its cast of varied characters. A book that can easily be read as a standalone story.

Second time of reading a novel featuring D I ‘Henry ‘ Ford and his team all their own very apt nicknames. A storyline that grabs you from the beginning involving landed gentry and protection of their land and family name, and unfortunately involves a local crime family one of the victims being their younger brother. DI Ford untangle the many attempts to cover up the crimes and brings the culprit to justice. A great read.

DI Ford is alerted that a dog walker (or rather their dog!) has found human remains down a badger sett. Although the body has been dismembered, when Ford crawls in & finds the head he recognises the victim- the younger brother of a local crime gang. His brother makes it clear to Ford that he needs to find the killer- or else. When another body turns up after a downpour Ford wonders if it is a coincidence that both of these men were found on the estate of a local big wig. The aristocratic family are at first helpful, but Ford is suspicious. There seem to be too many guns & too many crack shots about. With the help of the somewhat quirky 'Wix' Ford struggles to solve the case before the Boulter Brother's time runs out. I really enjoyed the first in this series & was looking forward to the next one. I found it as enjoyable with good characters & plot twists. I'm now looking forward to the next one. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Having read the first book in the DI Ford series I was pleased to be approved to read the next book. I really, really enjoyed this book, I thought it was very engaging, it had a very good plot line and was so well written. It held my attention throughout and flowed really well. I like DI Ford as a character, and enjoy the small glimpses of his home life with his son. Ford is called in to investigate a murder when a dismembered body is found in a badger set, and comes under additional pressure to find the murderer from the victims family who are well known to the Police. When a second body is found, Ford believes the two murders are connected and searches for links between them. There were plenty of twists and I thought I knew who the murderer was and was wrong. Overall I found this to be a great and very entertaining read that raced to a final conclusion with all loose ends tied up nicely. I think this is a fab series so far and look forward to the next book. 4 stars

Land Rites by Andy Maslen is book 2 in the DI Forbes detective series and is about two murders committed close to land owned by land owner Lord Baverstock. The storyline is about family and the lengths people go to protect their loved ones and family loyalty, whether you live on a country estate or a local criminal fraternity. It was an interesting read and I enjoyed this second book in the series.