A retired British engineer. A collapsed swimming pool. And the bones of a man who was never meant to be found.

When a ferocious Mediterranean storm tears apart the terrace of David Darnell's Costa Blanca villa, it exposes more than cracked concrete. Beneath the pool, sealed under decades of silence, lie the skeletal remains of an unidentified man, his skull fractured, his wrists bound.

The local police are swift and decisive: Civil War remains, they say. Nothing more to investigate. But David, a former structural engineer, can see that the body was buried after the pool was started and that someone very powerful went to great lengths to keep it that way.

As David digs deeper, he draws the attention of a charismatic property developer, a relentless investigative blogger, and the shadowy remnants of a corrupt old guard that built this stretch of the Costa Blanca on secrets as much as concrete. The closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous the search becomes and the more he realises that some layers of history are buried for a reason.

The Forgotten Corpse is a gripping crime mystery and thriller set against the sun-drenched but shadow-filled world of expat Spain, where corruption runs as deep as the foundations, and the past refuses to stay buried.

Perfect for fans of slow-burn crime fiction, British expat thrillers, Costa Blanca mysteries, and intelligent whodunits with a richly drawn sense of place — think Peter James meets Donna Leon, relocated to the Spanish coast.

Scroll up and click Buy Now to uncover the truth buried beneath the sun.

Sign up now to get the most out of Books2Read

Discover something great at Books2Read.

Thanks for signing up for Books2Read notifications!