Marjorie Orr

By the Light of a Lie Marjorie Orr

Investigative writer, Tire Thane, is catapulted out of her comfort zone into a murder hunt when her friend, a female barrister, is thrown from a wrecked car into the Thames, midway through a trial defending a man she believed to have been framed. Driven by suspicions she can't shake off, Tire inveigles her way into a circle of wealthy businessmen linked to the case. All are shining lights in society and all have secrets they will kill to protect. What is the connection with a talented Glasgow artist, abandoned for years in a gulag mental asylum, whose Italian paintings give a clue to his forgotten childhood? Backed by Scottish ex-soldier Herk Calder, she embarks on a dangerous hunt for answers to luxury resorts across Spain, California and Scotland. It's an unlikely duo, Tire, smart, cultured, sassy is the brains - pursued by her own demons as the daughter of a convicted murderer, with a covert interest in astrology. Herk is the brawn - practical, tough, ready to kill to defend her, though with surprising superstitions about birds. 270 pages.