Skeleton Hill (Peter Diamond Investigation) - Hardcover

On Lansdown Hill, near Bath, a battle between Roundheads and Cavaliers that took place over 350 years ago is annually reenacted. Two of the participants discover a skeleton that turns out to be female, headless, and only about twenty years old. Two weeks later, the body of one of them, a professor who played a Cavalier, is found nearby, at Beckford's Tower, a local folly. He has been murdered.
This turns out to be one of the most puzzling cases that has ever confronted Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond, involving golf, horseracing, Civil War reenactment, and even the Cyrillic alphabet. In the course of his investigation, he butts heads with a group of vigilantes who call themselves the Lansdown Society, discovering in the process that his boss, Georgina, is a member. She resolves to sideline Diamond, but matters don't pan out in accordance with her plans.

Peter Lovesey is the author of 26 highly praised mystery novels and has been awarded the CWA Gold, Silver, and Diamond Daggers (for Lifetime Achievement) as well as many US honors. He lives in West Sussex, England.