Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths
Series Name: Harbinder Kaur Mystery #3
Genre: Suspense
Release: November 15, 2022
A murderer strikes at a school reunion—but the students are no strangers to death— in this propulsive, twisty thriller from the internationally bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway Mysteries
Is it possible to forget that you’ve committed a murder?
When Cassie Fitzgerald was at school in the late 90s, she and her friends killed a fellow student. Almost twenty years later, Cassie is a happily married mother who loves her job—as a police officer. She closely guards the secret she has all but erased from her memory.
One day her husband finally persuades her to go to a school reunion. Cassie catches up with her high-achieving old friends from the Manor Park School—among them two politicians, a rock star, and a famous actress. But then, shockingly, one of them, Garfield Rice, is found dead in the school bathroom, supposedly from a drug overdose. As Garfield was an eminent—and controversial—MP and the investigation is high profile, it’s headed by Cassie’s new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur, freshly promoted and newly arrived in London. The trouble is, Cassie can’t shake the feeling that one of them has killed again.
Is Cassie right, or was Garfield murdered by one of his political cronies? It’s in Cassie’s interest to skew the investigation so that it looks like it has nothing to do with Manor Park and she seems to be succeeding.
Until someone else from the reunion is found dead in Bleeding Heart Yard. . .
Dru’s Short Musing:
In this intriguing tale of suspense, a reunion brings back a group of students to their alma mater and just like long ago, a murder happens on their watch.
Harbinder is back but in a new location, London, and new job, DI, and tackles her first big case where the suspects vary from an actress to a singer to a teacher to a member of her own staff. The author did a great job in setting the stage where each chapter gave us a point of view from Harbinder and two of the suspects. The solid plot gave way to well-defined narrative that catered to giving the reader clues that took us closer to the events. There were several twists and turns that had me devouring every word so as not to miss any hints given by the various cast of characters. I enjoyed watching this all play out with several of the cast having pivotal roles that set up the discovery of the person responsible and boy was that a zinger. Well done, well done. I also loved seeing Harbinder at home with her flat mates, her internal dialogue, and the friendship she develops both personally and professionally. Over, this was a fantastic read the best book featuring Harbinder. I hope we see more of her and her friends.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.