First published as "A Walking Shadow."

Trigger Warning: Child Abuse in a Religious Setting.

Detective Inspector Gilbert Markham and Detective Sergeant Noakes of the Bromgrove Police Department are investigating the discovery of skeletons on St. Mary's Choir School grounds. The DI has a personal interest in solving this investigation quickly.

I had viewed a few book covers browsing recommended series on my Kindle. The titles were interspersed with other cozy series. I decided to read Book 1. As I began reading, it wasn't a clean cozy. After reading the mystery, I visited the author's website, and the series is marketed as "Crime Thriller Books." It does not profess to be a cozy series, but ensure you realize it is not before beginning the book. I suggest merely crime fiction or mystery, not in the thriller category, as the fast-paced, page-turning suspense is not present, at least in Book 1.

At the book's close, reading the author's background and love of English might explain the language of her writing. It is purple prose or florid. However, during the reading experience, it seemed unnecessarily lofty and sometimes even pompous.

This was a challenging read in any sense of the experience. As an introduction to the author's writing, it has made a lasting impression, but surprise that this subject was used to begin a series. Law enforcement politics and religious politics are woven into the fabric of the investigation. Hence, the trigger warning at the beginning of the review rather than at the end in my usual review style.

The detectives' character development and interactions enabled me to finish the novel, but I will not continue reading the series. ( )

Over the years various boys have gone missing from Bromsgrove and St Mary's Choir School. At the same time Matron of the school, Irene Hummles, disappeared, presumed runaway from her responsibilities.
Twenty years later in 2017, two bodies are found in the graveyard of the school. DI Gilbert Markham partner Olivia Mullen is now the new English teacher at the school.
DI Markham and DS George Noakes investigate. But who or what is the hooded Night Watchman that seems to haunt the boys and the school.
An interesting well-written crime story, a good start to the series with its likeable main two policemen. ( )