A Word After Dying (Mitchell & Markby 10)
A cosy Cotswolds crime novel of murder and suspicion
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- €2.99
Publisher Description
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!'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
While the sleuthing duo of Inspector Alan Markby and his diplomat lover, Meredith Mitchell (last seen in Touch of Mortality, 1997), are rather quiet on these pages, this tale of secret doings in the remote English village of Parsloe St. John is carefully nuanced and concludes with a couple of fine surprises. Reclusive old Olivia Smeaton trips, apparently, and falls to her death. Her beloved horse Firefly is mysteriously poisoned, and then the large, unkempt body of Ernie, an illiterate local handyman, is found in one spot while his severed head shows up in another. Close to the village, evidence of recent satanic activity is found near three ancient stone statues. All this adds up to a busman's holiday for vacationing Markby and Mitchell, who are considering early retirement and have come to the area in search of a house to buy. The secretive Olivia's past (she was once a society lady and famous car racer) heightens curiosity about her long period of seclusion. The village boasts a tarty cleaning lady; Kevin, the abused and seemingly simpleminded offspring of Ernie; and Sadie, a shopkeeper and practicing witch. The narrative captures an accelerating tension and delivers final revelations that startle while remaining true to the nature of the characters in question. Granger's latest offers abundant, understated pleasures.
