Martin Shaw

Bardskull is the record of three journeys made by Martin Shaw, the celebrated storyteller and interpreter of myth, in the year before he turned fifty. It is unlike anything he has written before. This is not a book about myth or story. It is a sequence of incantations and a series of battles. For each of the three journeys, he walks alone into a forest in the heart of Dartmoor and waits. What arrives are stories - fragments of myth and folk tale...

Mill manager Patrick Fuller is found hanging from the rafters of his workplace. Was his death really a suicide-or murder? The investigation uncovers adultery, embezzlement, and a connection to a secret society.

A beautiful young woman turns up brutally murdered on the altar of a Newcastle church. Delving into the victim's past, Gently uncovers her connection to Rake's, a swinging gentleman's club that has become a target for religious protesters.

When nuclear submarines plan to dock at the local naval base, young peace protesters from Durham University clash with the police. The next morning, the demonstrators' fiery leader, faculty member Fraser Barratt, turns up dead at the dockside. The investigation takes Gently and Bacchus to the campus, where big changes are blowin' in the wind-and the social, political, and sexual tumult brings little peace.

Called to a crime scene at a working-class boarding house, Gently and Bacchus find a woman horribly beaten to death, her eyes covered discreetly with a handkerchief. The victim also carried her daughter's birth certificate, with the name of the child's father crossed out and "satan" penciled in. Following this lead, Gently and Bacchus probe the twisted secrets of a family that seems to harbor pure evil.

Gently and Bacchus try to determine the identity of a body found in a wooded area, shot once through the head and then burned beyond recognition. Their only clue is a gold ring inscribed with the name "Wanda" found in the victim's stomach. Adding to the pressure, a disreputable man named Empton from the Criminal Investigation Department's Special Branch befriends Bacchus and takes a peculiar interest in Gently's investigation.

When Gently is asked to look into a young woman's unsolved murder, he hopes to expose one last cover-up before retiring from the force. Still at odds with his superior, Bacchus asks for Rachel's help investigating the murder of a worker killed during a picket riot. Both cases seem to be linked to a charismatic and ambitious politician.

Gently investigates a death in police custody- and insists that Bacchus assist him, even though his sergeant has just submitted his formal resignation.

When DCI Gently and his team investigate a body found in a chemical storage tank, they learn that the victim's wife was convicted of his murder eight years ago. But Gently decides to reopen the case against the wishes of DI Bacchus, who had worked on the original investigation.

When an adopted baby is snatched from her crib, suspicion initially falls on the birth mother, who may be having second thoughts about giving up her child. But after a ransom demand turns out to be blackmail, Gently turns his attentions closer to home.