A Killer Ball At Honeychurch Hall

When antique dealer Kat Stanford stumbles upon the partially mummified body of an apparently murdered young woman in an abandoned wing at Honeychurch Hall, suspicion falls on the residents of many years ago. Given her mother Iris's checkered past, Kat isn't surprised that she knew the victim. Once again embroiled in her mother's mysterious and tumultuous bygone days, Kat is reminded that sometimes it is necessary to risk your own life to protect the lives of the ones you love.

In Hannah Dennison's Murder at Honeychurch Hall, Kat Stanford is just days away from starting her dream antique business with her newly widowed mother Iris when she gets a huge shock. Iris has recklessly purchased a dilapidated carriage house at Honeychurch Hall, an isolated country estate located several hundred miles from London. Yet it seems that Iris isn't the only one with surprises at Honeychurch Hall. Behind the crumbling façade, the inhabitants of the stately mansion are a lively group of eccentrics to be sure—both upstairs and downstairs —and they all have more than their fair share of skeletons in the closet. When the nanny goes missing, and Vera, the loyal housekeeper ends up dead in the grotto, suspicions abound. Throw in a feisty, octogenarian countess, a precocious seven year old who is obsessed with the famous fighter pilot called Biggles, and a treasure trove of antiques, and there is more than one motive for murder. As Iris's past comes back to haunt her, Kat realizes she hardly knows her mother at all. A when the bodies start piling up, it is up to Kat to unravel the tangled truth behind the murders at Honeychurch Hall.

'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. Beaton Following the butler's death and the cook's retirement, the ever-gullible Lady Lavinia replaces them with a power couple who are determined to thrust the crumbling estate into the 21st century. The Dowager Countess reluctantly agrees to hold a big-ticket Christmas gala and silent auction with a mystery celebrity flying in from Monaco as the guest of honour. Needless to say the newcomers' make a few enemies in their quest to change the status quo and when one body is discovered in the Victorian stumpery and a second, in the ha-ha, it seems that their high-flying past is catching up with them. Meanwhile, Kat is dealing with the theft of a valuable doll that had been earmarked for the auction. When it turns out that all the ticket money has vanished and there never was a celebrity guest, it's up to Kat to save the day and bring the cold-blooded killer to justice. Praise for Hannah Dennison: 'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen 'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson 'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend 'A fun read' Carola Dunn 'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan

'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. Beaton Spring is in the air ... and so, too, is the sound of music as the residents of Honeychurch Hall are stunned to learn that the Dowager Countess Lady Edith Honeychurch has agreed to the staging of a production of The Merry Widow in the dilapidated grand ballroom. Fears that the fiercely private octogenarian must be going senile are soon dismissed when our heroine, Kat Stanford, learns that the favour is a result of a desperate request from Countess Olga Golodkin. As one of Edith's oldest friends Olga is the director of the amateur Devon Operatic Dramatic Organization. Just a week before, D.O.D.O's original venue was destroyed in a mysterious fire but since tickets have been sold, costumes made and lucrative local sponsorships secured, Olga is determined that the show must go on. After decades at the helm of D.O.D.O., The Merry Widow will be Olga's swansong and she wants to go out with a bang . . . Praise for Hannah Dennison: 'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen 'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson 'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend 'A fun read' Carola Dunn 'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan

Belsfield Hall, 1805. The sudden disappearance of her niece's fiancé at their engagement ball leads Miss Dido Kent to worry that something sinister may have occurred. Before long, her fears are confirmed. Family secrets, long consigned to the darkest recesses of the past, begin to emerge as Dido attempts to unravel the strange happenings. But with the discovery of a body in the shrubbery, Mr Richard Montague's unexplained absence becomes all the more suspicious, and when she finally arrives at the startling truth, it is to change the lives of all involved for ever.

'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. Beaton When a body found on the Honeychurch Hall estate proves to be that of a villager who had supposedly moved to Ireland years earlier, tongues start wagging and theories abound. Charlie Green had always been a rogue. Although Charlie's demise happened well before Kat's arrival, Kat is drawn into the mystery when she finds two rare miniature portraits hidden inside a custom-made dollhouse of Honeychurch Hall. And then Charlie's aunt suffers a mysterious fatal fall and suspicion lands on a stranger who is holidaying in the newly installed shepherd's hut in the walled garden -- one of Lady Lavinia's latest hare-brained moneymaking schemes. Although there is something off about the tourist, Kat believes the culprit is fellow antique dealer. With tales of blackmail, infidelity and greed gripping the small community, past and present collide and Kat realises that the miniatures harbour a vital secret that one particular person is willing to kill for. Praise for Hannah Dennison: 'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen 'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson 'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend 'A fun read' Carola Dunn 'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan

Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall is the second charming and witty whodunit in Hannah Dennison's amazing cozy series. Set at an English manor house, fans of British mysteries and Downton Abbey are sure to enjoy this contemporary take on murder at the manor house. When the body of a transport minister is discovered in the grounds on Honeychurch Hall, suspicion about his unusual demise naturally falls on the folks in the village. After all, who could possibly want a high-speed train line built in their front yard? News of the murder soon reaches our heroine Kat Stanford's nemesis Trudy Wynne. A ruthless tabloid journalist and the ex-wife of Kat's discarded lover, Trudy is out for revenge. She is also interested in exposing—and humiliating—Kat's mother Iris, who is secretly the international bestselling romance writer Krystalle Storm. As the body count begins to build, Kat becomes inextricably embroiled in the ensuing scandal. Is the minister's death the result of a local vendetta, or could it be connected to her mother's unusual (to say the least) past?

'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. Beaton Is it a question of turn the other cheek... or an eye for an eye? At last St Mary's church is going to have its own vicar! Not only that, the gorgeous Reverend Pritchard is sixty, single... and in need of a wife. But when he spearheads a campaign to restore a derelict chapel - rumoured to be haunted by a German Luftwaffe pilot- in a far-flung corner of the Honeychurch estate, the Dowager Countess puts her foot down. But nobody quite understands why... Meanwhile, a fierce bidding war at an auction of military memorabilia ends in Kat's female adversary being murdered and Kat being held as the prime suspect. And then it turns out that several of the auctioned items are connected to Operation Tiger, a doomed rehearsal for the D-Day landings that took place in nearby Slapton Sands all those years ago. And Kat begins to realise that the vicar, the Luftwaffe ghost and all the World War II weaponry may all somehow be related... Praise for Hannah Dennison: 'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen 'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson 'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend 'A fun read' Carola Dunn 'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan