Synopses & Reviews
Inspector Alan Markby and his long-time girlfriend Meredith Mitchell have rented a cottage in the country for a much-needed holiday. But no sooner do they finally relax than their suspicious neighbor begins to speculate that the accidental death of Olivia Smeaton, a local old lady with a racy past, may be much more than it seems. Determinedly off duty, Markby grumbles that the woman's tumble down the stairs was probably caused by nothing more than a loose slipper sole. But Meredith's interest is piqued, and when another body is found, even Markby must admit that there is foul play afoot. With the villagers becoming increasingly unfriendly, and with the mysterious violence continuing, Meredith and Markby begin to fear that Olivia's death may be the first of many -- unless the two of them can make sense of scandalous secrets carefully hidden by the inhabitants of the seemingly peaceful Cotswold village.
Synopsis
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 '