Not a Very Nice Woman

A woman is found dead in her room at the care home she lived in, strangled and left lying on her Chinese rug. The death is motiveless, the room otherwise untouched, expensive objects left unstolen; meanwhile, even the fellow residents admit their friend's life was largely a mystery to them, with "decades left unaccounted for".

Investigating the crime, detectives discover a whole alternative history of their town; a history that takes in rivalries, crimes, social upheaval, family heartbreak; and ultimately offers the solution to the mystery they are facing.