A CLEAN UP CREW MYSTERY - Book 1
Two environmental health workers tasked with clearing out and disinfecting a deceased hoarder’s house uncover evidence of crimes lost for decades.
Owen Talbot has worked for the environmental health department of the city council since getting out on parole, cleaning up after situations society prefers not to think about. His new mate, Jonty James, has dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder and has left school with few qualifications and even fewer opportunities. Their first job together is clearing the late Dagmar Hathaway’s house of her accumulated rubbish. But things here are not right. Strange objects turn up in the hoard. The police start investigating when the postmortem uncovers a concern. A wronged neighbour recounts a gold coin replaced with a fake. A suspicious man is seen loitering. And then the house is broken into. What exactly was Dagmar involved in, and can Owen and Jonty decipher the puzzle buried in the hoard that will reveal the identity and motive of her killer?
The Hoard is the first novel in a series, Cleanup Crew. Each mystery begins with a gruesome scene to clean up, in which Owen and Jonty’s insight enables them to solve overlooked crimes.
