Co-Vid 2020, Part 2 (Amelia Hartliss Mysteries, #22) / Amelia Hartliss Mysteries (ePub)

Please Note: this is Part Two of a trilogy, but it can be read as a Stand-Alone Thriller, with a female protagonist.

Terry the computer technician, from Melia's Unit in British Security, has taken it on himself to organise the digs to look for Jimmy Batter's 'Treaure'. He is happy to search every grassy spot in Salford, England for the proceeds of Old Jim's sale of his Takeaway Empire, which he put on the market in 2013. Unfortunately, due to a family dispute, there was no agreement on how to spend the fortune, so all the relatives agreed they would bury the money for seven years, then make a decision. Also, unfortunate, is that not even Jimmy Batter knew exactly where it went - he left those decisions to his older brother Ben. The only clue is that Ben might have used one of Jim's 'Seven Favourite Places' as recorded in a series of videos made that year by Jan Branch, an older lady who has been out of the country since then, since she won a massive amount on the Lottery and decided to travel. Coincidentally she has been forced to come back to supervise disposal of her Mother's house, as her Mum has died. Jan finds herself dragged into the Treasure Hunt, then decides to play it to her advantage. She determines she will find the horde and keep it for herself.

Meanwhile Melia, who should be on to of these things, is still recovering from attempts on her life, and at the very first dig finds herself being shot at from a distance, by somebody with a rifle. Luckily she is able to retreat to a flat down on Salford Quays owned by her old friend Romla, a colleague from a former successful operation in nearby Manchester. Romla is distracted by the fact that her rarely seen daughter has turned up, all the way from London. Their paths have crossed because the government in Westminster has asked Annya, the daughter, to go and negotiate with disgraced politician Tolly Tilbury, a former Home Office Minister, who is being held in custody in Salford, pending possible deportation. Annay, a Human Rights lawyer, is the ideal person for the job, she says.

Melia has other things to worry about. In an attempt to recuperate she spent a holiday in Spain and there met the most amazing young man, an angel calling John Lewis. Melia, everyone says, is the girlfriend of agent/operative Mickey, but Mickey is so unreliable. Right now he is out of the country, supposedly on a mission given him by Melia's boss Captain Gibson, but he has been completely out of touch, and Melia, lonely is smitten. When John asks for a favour, she readily agrees. He wants her to try and find the location of a friend of his, a journalist, deported from East Africa and currently being held captive by British Security under the code-name 'Prisoner X'. You should be interested in helping this young man, John tells her - his real name is Paul Batter, Old Jim's grandson.

When Terry learns of Melia's quest he decides to help her, as does Mr Gibson, but neither colleague liaises with each other - or Melia - so she remains feeling low and unsupported. Meanwhile there there other digs, and other attempts on her life, the worse one culminating in another trip to hospital. While she languishes in a coma, John Lewis appears, but he finds a very harsh 'welcome' back in the old country.

The search for Jimmy Batter's hidden hoard progresses but the results are inconclusive, while the search for Prisoner X only yields more suprises and as the book draws to a close the identity of Melia's assailant is revealed, but again, it wasn't at all who everyone was suspecting.

Perhaps the story hasn't ended here.