Seven Days in May. Inspector Winwood Mysteries, #3

A local Parliamentary by-election is called when the sitting MP is forced to resign after being found in a sexually compromising situation. The political constituency of Rutherford is considered an important indication of the way the country might vote in a general election. Detective Inspector Steve Winwood has orders to remain in his office whilst his Detective Sergeant Archie Tibble and secret service Inspector Ruth Coleman are sent undercover.
This decision follows a cryptic message in the Obituary section of the local paper which seems to suggest that an attempt may be made on the life of the Prime Minister. He is expected to be canvassing in town. Winwood is immediately detached to investigate the murder of Les Wade, a reclusive retired rock star who lived just outside the town. There are few clues to help about Les Wade's past and then he receives some help from Brian Bennett, the Editor of the Rutherford Echo about a similar cold case.
Doctor MacKenzie's forensic discovery indicates that the gun and bullet that killed Les Wade could be connected to the same cold case from thirty years previous. Tibble and Coleman are sent on various wild goose chases before the election takes place. Winwood gets an important break when a previous lover of Les Wade gives him the background on Wade's life he really needs. The case moves along as Winwood makes a friend of a guest at the Fleetwood who is dying and offers some advice::'sit still and the world will move around you'.
When the threat to the PM evaporates Tibble is stood down but Winwood completes his investigation into both the current and historic murders to the complete satisfaction and gratitude of the secret service. As the working relationship between Archie and Ruth becomes more personal theirs is not the only love story, of which at least two are doomed. Warning: Sexual content from the beginning.