The Punishment She Deserves by Elizabeth George

If you're a fan of the wonderful Inspector Linley/Barbara Havers series, you'll love this. And if you're not, check it out. Thomas Linley is a British Lord and an investigator for New Scotland Yard. He has been teamed with Barbara Havers, who is definitely not upper class but is doggedly determined to find the bad guys. Their boss is Isabelle, who 1)has a serious drinking problem that has cost her custody of her 2 sons, 2)was once involved with Linley, and 3) can't stand Barbara and is focused on shipping her off to some remote corner of England at the first sign of an infraction.

When the popular deacon of Ludlow is found dead at the police station, Isabelle and Barbara are sent to find out whether the locals handled the case correctly and whether it was indeed a suicide as they determined. Isabelle just wants to get the trip over with as quickly as possible because she's in the middle of a battle to keep her ex from taking their sons to New Zealand. But Barbara is convinced there is more to this death than meets the eye. Eventually, Thomas and Barbara end up back in Ludlow and actually try to solve the case--which turns out to have a lot more components than they first suspected.

The book is almost 700 pages long but I was sorry to see it end because I do love the characters of Barbara and Thomas and can't wait to see what they are up to next.