In the Midst of Life by Roger Silverwood
The savage murder in a hospital of the criminally insane twenty years ago marks the beginning of this gruesome trail of enquiries to find a missing nurse for police Inspector Michael Angel. In spite of obstruction from the Chief Constable, this quirky Yorkshire policeman with only his two pet cats for consolation, stubbornly ferrets out of the suspects, and reduces them to one, by resorts to an unusual and original strategy. A dead woman wearing one stocking inside out, an American class ring, a missing videotape of the lovely Lola, and two dead cats all play their part in this scramble to find the killer on this unusual and chilling mystery set in south Yorkshire market town at the foot of the Pennines.