Death By Relic
(2026)(The second book in the DI Georgie Fraser Mystery series)
A novel by Saskia Van Der Zee
The murder was staged to shock. For DI Georgie Fraser, it succeeded in ways the killer couldn't have anticipated.
When a body is discovered at the Shropshire Geoscience Trust—spread-eagled beneath a twelve-foot mammoth skeleton, drained of blood, and stabbed with Bronze Age artefacts—it looks disturbingly like a ritual sacrifice. But Georgie knows the staging tells its own story: someone wanted this man humiliated. And the killer may not be the person who landed the fatal blow.
The victim left a trail of damage: a bitter ex-fiancée, a professional rival, a man nursing a grudge stretching back to schooldays, and multiple women who'd suffered at his hands. As Georgie unpicks layers of academic fraud, old abuse, and fierce maternal love, the case becomes a tangle of protection and revenge.
Then her partner Marianne finds herself uncomfortably close to the investigation. In the tight-knit villages of the Shropshire hills, where ancient landscapes hold long memories and everyone knows everyone's business, keeping personal and professional separate isn't just difficult—it's impossible. And protecting someone you love can make you capable of terrible things.
Some secrets are buried deep. Others are displayed for all to see. Georgie must decide which truth matters most.
The second investigation for DI Georgie Fraser. Can be read as a standalone.
Perfect for readers of Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves who enjoy atmospheric, character-led crime fiction.
'This is an absolutely brilliant novel.' Sophie Hannah, Sunday Times, New York Times and Amazon Kindle UK No. 1 bestselling writer of crime fiction
Genre: Mystery
When a body is discovered at the Shropshire Geoscience Trust—spread-eagled beneath a twelve-foot mammoth skeleton, drained of blood, and stabbed with Bronze Age artefacts—it looks disturbingly like a ritual sacrifice. But Georgie knows the staging tells its own story: someone wanted this man humiliated. And the killer may not be the person who landed the fatal blow.
The victim left a trail of damage: a bitter ex-fiancée, a professional rival, a man nursing a grudge stretching back to schooldays, and multiple women who'd suffered at his hands. As Georgie unpicks layers of academic fraud, old abuse, and fierce maternal love, the case becomes a tangle of protection and revenge.
Then her partner Marianne finds herself uncomfortably close to the investigation. In the tight-knit villages of the Shropshire hills, where ancient landscapes hold long memories and everyone knows everyone's business, keeping personal and professional separate isn't just difficult—it's impossible. And protecting someone you love can make you capable of terrible things.
Some secrets are buried deep. Others are displayed for all to see. Georgie must decide which truth matters most.
The second investigation for DI Georgie Fraser. Can be read as a standalone.
Perfect for readers of Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves who enjoy atmospheric, character-led crime fiction.
'This is an absolutely brilliant novel.' Sophie Hannah, Sunday Times, New York Times and Amazon Kindle UK No. 1 bestselling writer of crime fiction
Genre: Mystery
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