It's summer in the Lake District, and torrential rain uncovers a tattoed body on a hillside. But that is not the only thing to come to the surface: centuries-old tales involving the legendary Pitcairn Massacre are being told again. Did Fletcher Christian, mutinous First Mate on the ill-fated Bounty, fake his own death in order to return home in secret to the Lakes? Wordsworth scholar Jane Gresham wants to know the truth.

There are persistent rumours that the Lakeland poet, a childhood friend of Christian's, harboured the fugitive and turned his tale into an epic poem a narrative that has since remained hidden. But as Gresham follows each new lead, death follows hard on her heels. Suddenly, a 200-year-old mystery is putting lives on the line.

Gresham is a reasonably well-drawn protagonist and McDermid's plot is best described as where-is-it, rather than whodunnit, as various rival parties search for the missing manuscript.

Gresham is a London-based academic, but the writer soon switches the action to the Lakes, where it remains for the remainder of the novel.

The historical elements are well-researched, but the author does not allow the fast-paced narrative to become bogged down, and intersperses the story from yesteryear throughout the novel.

A black teenager from Gresham's London estate follows her to the Lakes, after getting into trouble with the police. In the only development that does not ring true, Gresham then shelters the youngster at her parents' farm, and the author appears to require the teenager's presence to drive the plot.

This was an engrossing page-turner which left me wanting to find out more about mutinous sailors, and William Wordsworth, but I think the final product would have been even better if the troublesome teenage girl had been allowed to remain at home in London, instead of travelling to the Lakes. I shall now try to find my copy of The Prelude.

Val McDermid is appearing at the Oxford Literary Festival at 6.30pm, on Wednesday, March 29.