Dead Before Morning by Geraldine Evans is a British police procedural cozy and the first in the Rafferty and Llewellyn series.I loved the interaction between Rafferty and Llewellyn and the story took many twists and turns with a surprise ending. Be careful though, because I think you can get hooked on these books and there are 12 so far.
From the cover:
Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty has just been promoted. Then he lands the case from Hell, one involving a corpse with no face, no ID, no clothes, and smashed teeth, found in a place she had no business being: a private psychiatric hospital. Dr Anthony Melville-Briggs, the suave, social-climbing owner, who thinks his money can buy everything, even the police, is another aggravating factor.
As if that isn’t enough, his Ma, Kitty Rafferty, has another little problem for him: she wants him to get his distant cousin out of the cells in time for his wedding. Against his better judgement, Rafferty promises to do his best to get his cousin sprung, though he is careful not to give a time-scale for the Great Escape.
Struggling, with no solution in sight, it is only when he is reminded of his forgotten promise and goes to see his jail-bird cousin, that Rafferty begins to put the case to bed.
You can download a free copy here
