A Word After Dying Mitchell Markby 10

A holiday becomes work for Mitchell and Markby as a crime unravels... Mitchell and Markby find themselves drawn into a murder enquiry whilst holiday in a country cottage in A Word After Dying, the tenth cosy English village crime novel in Ann Granger's captivating Mitchell & Markby series. The perfect read for fans of Rebecca Tope, Agatha Christie and ITV's Midsomer Murders. 'Probably the best current example of a crime writer who has taken the classic English village detective story and brought it up to date' - Birmingham Post Superintendent Alan Markby and Meredith Mitchell are in desperate need of a holiday - and the Cotswold village of Parsloe St John seems the perfect choice. Their neighbour, retired journalist Wynne Carter, is as convivial as the village itself and, over a glass of blackberry wine, indulges in her latest obsession, Olivia Smeaton, a racy old lady whose life - and death - she is convinced are not all they seem. Markby is more interested in buying Olivia's house than the circumstances of her vacating it, but Meredith is intrigued: by the old lady, the death of a cherished horse and a dusty junk shop run by a white witch. When another fatality - of a very grisly nature - is discovered, it seems her suspicion is justified. Clearly Olivia isn't the only enigma in Parsloe St John - and her death might be the first of many unless Meredith Mitchell and Alan Markby can make sense of some very secret lives to reach the truth... What readers are saying about A Word After Dying: 'If you like your crime novels written in a low key style with plenty of amusing moments and not too much graphic violence then this is the series for you' 'Yet another great Mitchell & Markby whodunit' 'An invigorating novel!'

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The Boxing Day Hunt leads to a hunt for a killer... A Season for Murder is the second cosy and colourful English village mystery in Ann Granger's Mitchell & Markby series. This thrilling whodunit will enthral fans of Colin Dexter, Agatha Christie and ITV's Midsomer Murders. 'A good feel for understated humour, a nice ear for dialogue' - The Times It is with some trepidation that Meredith Mitchell returns to the Cotswolds: the Bamford district holds memories that, to put it generously, are bittersweet, and Christmas is a difficult time to find oneself a stranger in a new area. Yet she receives a kindly welcome, in particular from her old acquaintance Chief Inspector Markby and from her new neighbour Harriet Needham, a striking redhead with whom Meredith immediately feels a certain kinship. But Meredith has barely got to know her neighbour when Harriet is involved in a shocking - and fatal - accident at the Boxing Day Hunt. Witnesses to the death are plentiful, for the incident occurred in Bamford's crowded market square, and many are adamant it's a case of murder. Chief Inspector Markby is inclined to agree, although he suspects the guilty party is not the most obvious one. Before long Meredith Mitchell begins, reluctantly, to think he might be right ... What readers are saying about A Season for Murder: 'The writing is witty and engaging, the characters are well rounded and the reader is left wanting to know more about what might happen in the future to them' 'The interplay between Mitchell and Markby and the clashes and stresses of their own lives nicely balances the intelligent plots' 'Really addictive. Very cleverly woven'

A dispute between an entrepreneur and the village locals turns deadly... A gala turns grisly in Murder Among Us, the fourth probing mystery in Ann Granger's gripping Mitchell & Markby series. The perfect read for fans of Ann Purser, Agatha Christie and ITV's Midsomer Murders. 'Told with humour and a most engaging worldliness' - Birmingham Post When ambitious hotelier Eric Schuhmacher announces he is to turn Springwood Hall, near the market town of Bamford, into a smart Cotswold country-house hotel, the news is greeted by a chorus of local disapproval, led by the redoubtable Hope Mapple. So the gala opening, to which all the disaffected parties have been invited, promises to be quite an event - not least because the amply upholstered Hope Mapple is planning a disruptive streak protest. But Hope's lightning dash is unexpectedly upstaged by a far more shocking event: the discovery of a recently murdered body on the premises. The victim is a local woman, and for Chief Inspector Markby and his guest Meredith Mitchell what had promised to be a diverting summer treat suddenly turns into a horribly serious affair ... What readers are saying about Murder Among Us: 'A truly intriguing and sympathetic book' 'A wonderful village mystery, that satisfies on all levels. Her [Ann Granger's] cast of characters are all wonderfully eccentric and provide you with many hours of joy' 'These stories are intricate enough to make you think and easy to read at the same time'

Since the end of the nineteenth century, the Oakley family of Bamford, England, has lived in the shadow of tragedy. In 1889, Cora Oakley died by inhaling a poisonous gas in her sleep, and her husband William was put on trial for the murder. Although the case was dismissed, Oakley's reputation was ruined, and he fled the country, never to be heard from again. Over a hundred years later, the only remaining members of the Oakley family are two elderly sisters living in Bamford, who exist in poverty in their rambling ancestral home, Fourways. Unable to maintain their mansion, the sisters have decided to sell the house and live comfortably on the proceeds. But a young Polish man named Jan appears, claiming to be William Oakley's great-grandson and brandishing what he alleges is Oakley's will, which entitles him to half the profits from the sale. The sisters panic, knowing that, although Jan's claims don't stand up, a court case could drag on for years, and time is not on their side. When Jan is found dead, poisoned by the same substance used to kill his great-grandmother so many years ago, it seems that murder has returned to haunt the Oakley family once again, and Superintendent Markby must unravel two mysteries, one from a hundred years ago, to find the killer. In Shades of Murder, Ann Granger has crafted another tough case for Mitchell and Markby.

Meredith Mitchell is delighted when an old friend from her consular days, Toby Smythe, turns up on leave between foreign postings. But Toby has a problem---or rather his relative Alison Jenner has---and Toby wants to enlist the help of Meredith's fiancé, Detective Superintendent Alan Markby. Alison has been receiving anonymous hate mail in which reference is made to a time twenty-five years earlier when she stood trial for the murder of her aunt, Freda Kemp, but was acquitted. Who is the writer, and how does he or she know about this secret in Alison's past? Markby is reluctant to become involved, not least because Toby is hardly his favorite person. Besides, he and Meredith are planning their wedding, and distractions aren't welcome. But inquiries into a poisoned pen campaign soon turn into a murder investigation. With the help of Inspector Jessica Campbell, a new member of Markby's team, and the non-professional but enthusiastic assistance of Meredith and Toby, the inquiry unravels a twenty-five-year-old mystery and its dreadful legacy of violence.

When Meredith Mitchell bumps into her old schoolfriend Rachel Hunter at the Chelsea Flower Show it doesn't take Meredith long to realise that she and the effortlessly self-confident blonde have even less in common now than they had as teenagers. Apart from one thing - Meredith's companion, Chief Inspector Markby. For to the embarrassment of all concerned, except of course the self-possessed Rachel, Meredith's old schoolfriend turns out to have been Markby's former wife, from whom he was divorced years before in less than friendly circumstances. The meeting with Rachel is not the only surprise the Flower Show has in store for Markby - before the afternoon is out he has a death on his hands. All too quickly he and Meredith find themselves drawn into the plush, apparently well-run world Rachel and her second husband created for themselves in their Cotswold home, Malefis Abbey, a world which Markby becomes increasingly convinced harbours a highly skilled murderer ...