Finely observed beautifully written Daily Mail on The Secrets of Life and Death

Archaeologist Sage Westerfield has been called in to excavate an ancient well, and expects to find little more than soil and the odd piece of pottery. The disturbing discovery of a woman’s skeleton along with that of a baby - which shows signs of violence - makes it clear that she has stumbled onto an historical murder mystery. Heavily pregnant herself by her ex boyfriend, a married man, Sage feels drawn to investigating the circumstances surrounding the tiny bones. When the wife of the owner of Banstock Manor shows her the account of Vincent Garland, the steward of the estate in the 1580s, Sage learns of a destructive love triangle between an embroideress, an alchemist, and the Lord of the Manor’s daughter.

Yet there is more to the case than a four-hundred-year-old mystery. The owners of the cottage next to the well appear to be cursed with bad luck, the local vicar - with whom Sage is beginning a tentative relationship - is being plagued with abusive phone calls that come from inside the cottage, and Sage becomes convinced that she is being followed. Then a tragic death makes it all to clear that a modern murderer is at work, and Sage may well be his next target.