OPHELIA'S FLOWERS tells the story of a young couple who work for a narrowboat company. Having been reported missing by her fiancé, Robbie Edwards, the body of Alice Drummond is found in the debris of a land slippage. Robbie Edwards body is found a couple of days later in the canal.
DCI Anna Anderson and Dr Maisie Shaw, Forensic Pathologist, set out to discover if Robbie killed Alice and then himself, or if they were murdered by someone else.
The owner of the boatyard, Mark Flowers, where Robbie and Alice, worked has a traumatic past. His wife is reported as having died in a swimming accident, twenty years previously, followed a couple of years later by the disappearance of his youngest son whilst playing with friends. The remains of a young boy are discovered in a tree in the vicarage garden. DNA testing shows that the remains are not those of his missing son.
At the sites of all the bodies, flowers are found, rosemary, columbine and daisies, respectively, which relate to those spoken about by Ophelia in Hamlet. DCI Anderson also receives anonymous letters, which contain lines from Hamlet that relate to each of the deaths. Fennel, rue and pansies are also left at other places.
OPHELIA'S FLOWERS is full of family intrigue, twists and turns that leave the reader thinking they know who the murderer is, until the last pages.