Innocent Dead

Gwyn, Bennett
Works of: Fiction

The curtains were closed and incense burned in a pottery jug. Brightly coloured cloth was draped over pictures on the wall. Out of a bag spilled stones, teeth, bones. Beside them were jars of herbs and ground powders. Was the person who lived here an innocent victim… or a killer?

Harrison Lane, Head of the Ritualistic Behavioural Crime unit, is called to investigate the brutal assault of an African healer. The two attackers are normally law-abiding parishioners from the nearby Catholic church. Behind bars, the men claim they were acting in self-defence after the man used ‘voodoo magic’ to curse their church, sending a wave of sudden deaths and sickness through the panicked congregation.

While items like bones, ritual figures, robes and an altar are found at the healer’s home, Harrison is convinced they’re not seeing the whole picture. But as more fall desperately sick, he’s running out of time to find out who – or what – is killing the parishioners.

Why was the first victim’s body cremated before testing could be carried out? It’s clear to Harrison that there’s a killer in their midst, picking them off one by one then destroying the evidence. Is it a voodoo practitioner, or something far more evil much closer to home?