Ellis Peters: Fallen into the Pit (USA 2015)

From the Publisher:
In this "hypnotically good" debut, a Nazi murdered in an English village sets Sergeant Felse and his son on an investigation few want solved (Boston Sunday Globe).

It is 1952, and the shadow of World War II still lies over the green fields of the small village of Comerford on the Welsh borders. When ex-prisoner of war Helmut Schauffler is murdered, local policeman Sergeant George Felse has his work cut out: Schauffler was Nazi to the core and the majority of the villagers had good reason to despise him.

Sergeant Felse's fourteen-year-old son, Dominic -- who found Schauffler's body in a shallow brook -- is fascinated by the case. Much to his father's disapproval, he resolves to find the murderer -- a decision that places his own life in great danger... .

Fallen Into the Pit is the 1st book in the Felse Investigations, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Ellis Peters: Fallen into the Pit. The Felse Investigations. MysteriousPress.com / Open Road Integrated Media, ISBN: 9781504027069 (December, 2015), eBook, 7.51 MB (ca. 278 p.), $8.99.

Ellis Peters: Fallen into the Pit (USA 1996)

From the Publisher:
A deadly loss of innocence...
All the school boys of Comerford look up to Chad Wedderburn, a classics master who was a hero of the Resistance in World War II. But they are puzzled by his unwavering stand against all violence. And when he is blamed for the brutal murder of a former German prisoner of war who settled in this remote Shropshire town, none of them believe he did it. .

Policeman George Felse is also deeply troubled by this killing. His son Dominic discovered the body, and now the boy is doggedly pursuing clues in the isolated countryside to clear his teacher. As young Felse digs deeper, his father feels a mounting pressure. For Inspector Felse knows all too well that Dominic is playing with fire, and that he must close the case quickly-before the killer teaches them both a lesson in murder... .

By the celebrated author of the Brother Cadfael mysteries, this new edition makes available to American readers a multilayered, classic whodunit-the long-awaited first book in the Inspector Felse series and a masterwork that was well worth waiting for.

"INSPECTOR FELSE, IN A CLASS WITH THE BEST-PORTRAYED BRITISH POLICEMEN IN FICTION TODAY, IS A FULLY DIMENSIONAL CHARACTER WHO PLUMBS THE EXPERIENCES OF HIS PERSONAL LIFE TO UNDERSTAND HIS CASE." -- Publishers Weekly

Ellis Peters: Fallen into the Pit. The First Inspector Felse Mystery. Warner Books, ISBN: 0446403180 (June, 1996), 325 p., $5.99.

Ellis Peters: Fallen into the Pit (UK 1991)

From the Publisher:
When an obnoxious Nazi land-worker is murdered in the small English village of Comerford, Sergeant George Felse faces one of the toughest investigations of his career. With World War Two only recently behind them, the majority of people in the village had good reason to despise this man.

Sergeant Felse's son, Dominic, is fascinated by the case, and much to his father's disapproval he resolves to help find the murderer. But then another tragedy occurs, and when Dominic discovers a clue to the identity of the killer his own life is in grave danger...

'Charm is not usual in murder mysteries, but Ellis Peters' stories are full of it' -- Mail on Sunday
'Peters has an astonishing range' -- Spectator

Ellis Peters: Fallen into the Pit. Inspector Felse Investigates. Futura, ISBN: 0708848397 (February, 1991), 278 p., £3.99.