Michael Preston

The Silver Skeleton Michael Preston

In the mid-1980s, a feared local bully and petty criminal is kicked unconscious by four teenage assailants, who believe their victim to be dead as they panic and flee the scene of the crime.

The quartet, who are lifelong loyal allies, conceive a plan to eliminate themselves from suspicion. They fear retribution, either from the victim if he has survived their assault, or from justice if they have indeed committed murder. They endure a tortuous week, awaiting their fate, but then learn that the victim - dead or alive - has vanished inexplicably. His whereabouts remain a mystery.

In the present day, an unexpected event causes a reunion of the once inseparable group, who drifted apart in the years that followed. The gathering forces them to confront the long-suppressed demons of that vicious attack in the eighties.

During a reminiscent wander through the much-changed Birmingham city centre landscape, they stumble across a recently identified crime scene, where decades-old human remains have been unearthed in the basement of an office building undergoing renovations. The discovery of a crudely-buried skeleton triggers silent panic among one of the group, who holds the secret to the identity of the remains and even possesses a gruesome souvenir taken from the corpse.

Multiple theories and motives emerge through present day events and flashbacks to the eighties. There remain many old scores to settle, while reawakened romantic temptations threaten to divert the course of the investigation and cloud the judgement and decision making of all concerned.

Once all the vulnerable parties are exposed, justice is in danger of being pushed aside in favour of revenge and personal grievances, to ensure that someone - rightly or wrongly - will be accused of the crime of murder.