Secrets.

That's the trouble with secrets - they come back to bite you.

Ex-Inspector 'Zig' Batten has 'gone private.' Alas, the first case of his new career drags him back to Wake Hall, the vast Somerset Estate he hoped never to see again - nor its equestrian owner, the imperious Lady Wake.

She and her crew are keepers of secrets, but when Wake Hall's horses are viciously attacked, Batten is left in the dark. If horses could talk, might they speak of vengeful Olly Rutter, Batten's old Northern adversary, or demonic schemer Luka Judd? And what of the missing 'Dipstick Dave'?

Worse, despite a fear of flying, Batten is dispatched to Spain - twice - in search of an absconded farrier, a money-hungry thief, and a killer-on-the-run.

Struggling with a half-finished house, a new partner, and the shifting sands of old CID friendships, Batten discovers how painful secrets can be.

And how dangerous.