In Cornwall, a man suffers a violent death – and the killer may lurk within the community . . .

Featuring Detectives Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, A Slowly Dying Cause is an atmospheric, gripping crime thriller from bestselling author Elizabeth George.

Amid the beauty of Cornwall’s coastline, the death of a local man shatters the peace with its violence. The body of Michael Lobb is discovered in his family’s tin and pewter workshop, and Detective Inspector Beatrice Hannaford is brought in to investigate. Suspicion quickly develops when it emerges that a mining company had been trying to buy the man’s land, and Lobb was the only remaining obstacle to the deal going through.

But every step of Bea’s investigation provokes more questions than answers, and the complexity of the case develops further as Lobb’s family life, rife with mistrust and deception, comes to light. With cryptic alibis and shifting motives, the tangled web of intrigue soon draws in her colleagues Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, who must search for a killer in a community that has very little trust in outsiders . . .

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‘She writes extremely well, plots brilliantly and reaches an emotional level deeper than most’ – The Times

‘She's a designer of fastidious mosaics that never fail to intrigue’ – The Guardian

‘Elizabeth George delivers another intelligent, intricate mystery’ – The New York Times

‘Presses all the buttons to make us hoover her stuff up’ – The Daily Telegraph

‘It feels like meeting old friends and that you're almost solving the crime together’ – The Belfast Telegraph

‘Rich with descriptive detail and emotional nuance. Several alternating plot threads unspool at length, all of which weave tightly together with pleasing inevitability’ – The Wall Street Journal