The Best Man to Die - Ruth Rendell

Jack Pertwee was getting married in the morning.

Charlie Hatton drove his lorry eleven hours down from Leeds just to be there. Charlie was Jack’s best friend and he would be his best man. When the two finally parted at the Kingsbrook bridge, Jack felt as though his life was just beginning. But for Charlie Hatton life was about to end

Detective Chief Inspector Wexford wondered why the fatal Fanshawe car accident kept upsetting his concentration on the Hatton murder. There couldn’t be a connection. Fanshawe had been a wealthy stockbroker; Charlie Hatton had been a cocky little lorry driver with some illegal dealing

But was it just a coincidence that Hatton had been killed on the day following that of Mrs Fanshawe’s regaining consciousness?