It’s a cold, grey morning when soldiers on an exercise drill find a smouldering body up on the moors.

The body is scarred by cigarette burns, the hands covered in tattoos and the clothes are scruffy. But the Reebok trainers are brand new.

It’s just a kid. A ten-year-old boy. Someone killed him, then set him on fire. DI Joanna Piercy is determined to bring whoever did this to justice.

But the case is getting more complicated with every new discovery. Why is this clearly neglected child wearing a solid gold ring? A ring that belonged to a local MP — before he died of pneumonia some months ago?

Then two more children go missing from a local children’s home. The race is on for DI Piercy to find them before any more bodies are burnt on the moors.

Originally published as Catch the Fallen Sparrow