Detective Inspector George Bennett is called to the small hamlet to search for the girl. Upon his arrival, he realizes that most of the families in the village are either cousins or some other relation to each other. Ruth Carter, Alison’s mother, is married to an outsider, Philip Hawkin, who is the squire of the manor estate-like village. Being an outsider, as well as Alison’s stepfather, makes Hawkin a logical place for Bennett to begin his investigation. When he turns up empty, Bennet begins to investigate the neighbors, asking them questions that he feels appropriate, but that they seem to deem too nosy. Although the villagers are courteous and polite, Bennett feels they are not entirely forthcoming, almost as if they don’t expect, or even want Alison found.

Just when Bennett feels he has run up against his last dead end, one of Alison’s cousins leads him to some evidence and Alison’s mother finds what she considers damning evidence against her husband. To Bennett’s unease, even though Alison’s body has never been recovered, Hawkin is tried, convicted and executed for Alison’s murder, maintaining his innocence until the end.

Thirty-five years later, a young journalist takes Alison’s case up and with the help of Bennett, writes a true-crime book based on the murder. Just before the book is to be published, Catherine receives an odd letter from Bennett begging her not to publish the book. Catherine returns to Scarsdale and uncovers what Bennett has just learned and then realizes just how many lives could be shaken and torn apart if the book were published.

A Place of Execution, Val McDermid’s first stand alone novel, starts out as a typical English village mystery, but takes a bizarre twist that is very unexpected. The revisiting of the case by a journalist many years later is an interesting vehicle to get to the truth of the events in 1963, but parts of it are almost too contrived. Paul Bennett (George’s son) is engaged to be married to a young woman from Scarsdale, who in all likelihood is a relative of Alison’s, yet his fiancée’s sister is not at all anxious to meet her future in-laws. When Catherine does visit Scarsdale, the truths that come out seem very melodramatic, even by 1963 standards.

George Bennett, while not a sympathetic character, is one to feel sorry for. He carries the guilt and uncertainty of Hawkin’s death, ever reminded of it because his son was born at almost the precise moment Hawkin died. His reluctance to revisit the case is understandable, but the way he deals with the truth when he learns it is a bit unexpected.

Scarsdale and its residence are enough to cause shivering in retrospect, but as they unfold on the pages, they merely appear odd. An unusual twist on a typical police procedural makes this an interesting book, although the first part of the book, the initial investigation, drags on a bit long, the pace increasing once the trial begins.

-- Jennifer Monahan Winberry