Chief Inspector Barnaby 07-A Ghost in the Machine

7. A Ghost in the Machine (2004)

Every man should have a hobby. It keeps them out of mischief and from under their wives' feet. A nice bit of DIY, gardening, bowls or snooker, mysterious activities in the potting shed - fine. But killing machines, Dennis Brinkley's hobby - something else. Not what you'd call a nice hobby at all.

When a bloody, pulverized body is found lying beneath the rustic timbers of an authentic torture device so vicious and complicated as to be blood-curdling, there's sufficient unrest in tiny Forbes Abbot to call in Chief Inspector Barnaby. Was Dennis Brinkley done in by crooked business partners, a teenage seductress, a couple of would-be publishers who've just inherited—and then lost—millions, or perhaps by tired, timid little Benny Fraye, who wouldn't hurt a fly—would she?
Barnaby will soon find out just who set in motion the gruesome machine that crushed the unfortunate victim.