The Sideman

Product Description

With no evidence against him and no known motive, DI Costello must break the rules if she is to get her man.

Detective Inspector Costello has resigned. No notice, no goodbyes. Convinced that George Haggerty murdered his wife and son despite his cast-iron alibi, Costello has gone solo, determined to expose a ruthless killer without being hampered by police protocol. But is she right about Haggerty’s guilt? And where has she disappeared to?

DCI Colin Anderson has no time to ponder the loss of his partner of twenty years. With a badly beaten body found on a remote mountain pass; a woman with a serious head wound who won’t communicate in any way; and a substantial pool of blood discovered at the edge of Loch Lomond, Police Scotland have their hands full. Could there be any connection to Costello’s disappearance …?

About the Author

Caro Ramsay was born and brought up in Glasgow, and now lives in a village on the west coast of Scotland. She is an osteopath, acupuncturist and former marathon runner, who devotes much of her time to the complementary treatment of injured wildlife at a local rescue centre. She is the author of nine previous Anderson & Costello thrillers.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Sideman
By Caro Ramsay Severn House Publishers LimitedCopyright © 2018 Caro Ramsay
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84751-935-1
CHAPTER 1
Saturday, 25th of November
The house on the terrace was quiet on a Saturday afternoon, all week it had been like Glasgow Central on Fair Friday, but everybody was out today. Colin Anderson had the whole house to himself. He was lying on the sofa, nursing a large Merlot and two sore feet after helping Brenda make an early start on the Christmas shopping. He was musing at the wine, as it swirled round the contours of the glass, admiring the patterns it left in the light of the wood-burning stove. His grandchild, Baby Moses, was asleep in his basket at Anderson's feet. Nesbit, the fat Staffie, was curled up on the sofa, ears tucked in so he didn't hear the rain battering against the windows. American Beauty played on the DVD, with the volume too low to hear.
It was almost perfect yet Anderson was not at peace. He was still digesting the news that his partner for twenty years had resigned. Costello was gone. No notice. No chat. No goodbyes. She had walked into ACC Mitchum's office unannounced, uninvited and slapped her letter of resignation on the desk right in front of him.
Just like that.
Twenty years they had worked together, fought, made up and fallen out again, shared laughs, heartache and a few broken bones. She had always had his back. He had always had hers. At times, their thinking was polar, opposite points of the compass, balancing each other into a relationship that while turbulent, was effective. Their track record proved that. Now she was gone. Brenda, his wife, had explained it simply. The events of the last few months had been too intense. Costello had found Archie Walker. Anderson had found Baby Moses.
Both of them had moved on and maybe George Haggerty had been the catalyst that finally separated them.
But then Brenda would say that. She had never really liked Costello.
He checked his phone. He was meeting the guys tomorrow for fish and chips, a long-standing arrangement. Costello had been invited. She had declined.
Anderson could accept that she had resigned in a fit of pique, saying she could do more about Haggerty without the restriction of the badge. She thought 'killing the bastard' would do her more good than any counselling.
And she had been furious when her request to form a task force to investigate the murders of Abigail and Malcolm Haggerty had been refused. The case had been transferred to Complaints and Internal Investigations, purely for clarity and transparency, but to him, and Costello, it felt they themselves were being scrutinized and judged. The first two people on the murder scene were members of the law enforcemen