Carrion Comfort

by Aline Templeton

  The doorbell rang. He groaned. One of the neighbours, probably, and he’d have to invite them in for a drink when he really didn’t feel like company.

  But when he opened the door, there was a small figure on the doorstep, bouncing up and down with excitement. Betsy threw herself on him and as he scooped her up in his arms she shrieked, ‘We’re coming to stay with you, Unkie! Look, I’ve brought my suitcase!’ He looked. There was a roll-along case shaped like a ladybird, and behind it another larger grey case. Finella, tearstained and shaky, was standing beside it.

  ‘Oh God, I’m sorry about this, Kelso. But I’ve walked out on Mark and I’ve nowhere else I could bear to go. Do you mind?’

  ‘Of course not,’ he said, automatically as he turned to put his niece down in the little hall. He looked over her head, saw the beer waiting on the table, saw the tranquil harbour beyond with its elegant white lighthouse and the little boats bobbing peacefully at their moorings. ‘You know I’m always there for you, Fin. Come in and tell me all about it.’

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ALINE TEMPLETON grew up in the fishing village of Anstruther, in the East Neuk of Fife. She has worked in education and broadcasting and was a Justice of the Peace for ten years. Married, with two grown-up children and three grandchildren, she now lives in a house with a view of Edinburgh Castle. When not writing she enjoys cooking, choral singing, and travelling the back roads of France.

  alinetempleton.co.uk

  By Aline Templeton

  DI KELSO STRANG SERIES

  Human Face

  Carrion Comfort

  DI MARJORY FLEMING SERIES

  Evil for Evil

  Bad Blood

  The Third Sin

  COPYRIGHT

  Allison & Busby Limited

  11 Wardour Mews

  London W1F 8AN

  allisonandbusby.com

  First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2018.

  This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 by ALINE TEMPLETON

  The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 978–0–7490–2420–8