A Child's Garden of Death by Richard Forrest

A children's book author and his wife investigate an impossible murder that's over thirty years old in this intelligent, absorbing small-town thriller.
Murphysville hasn't seen a triple homicide since the Indian raids. But when an anonymous tip sends police investigators digging in a remote field, they find three rotting skeletons. One of them is missing an arm and another is that of a child who died with a doll clutched to her chest, the only clue to the grisly murders. Clearly, life in Lyon Wentworth's cozy Connecticut suburb is far darker than it once seemed.

A children's book author and hot-air balloonist, Lyon has a personal stake in this unsolved crime: He lost a little girl long ago. With the help of his wife, Bea, a no-nonsense state senator who's losing her hearing but not her quick wit, Lyon pursues the investigation even after the police pronounce the cold case impossible to solve. Lyon and Bea will find justice for the girl who died in the ditch-or they'll die trying.

Richard Forrest's thrillers are uniquely realistic, showing ordinary people grappling with horrible crimes. This gripping page-turner introduced the world to Lyon and Bea Wentworth, a husband-and-wife sleuthing team in the tradition of Dashiell Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles.

A Child's Garden of Death is the 1st book in the Lyon and Bea Wentworth Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.