From Publishers Weekly
In her 12th mystery featuring British civil servant Meredith Mitchell and her policeman lover, Alan Markby, Granger probes the secrets of an unhappy family to discover the truth behind a nasty murder. Gypsy Danny Smith is checking his rabbit traps in a wooded area near a railway embankment when he makes a grisly discovery: the body of the wife of a local farmer, Hugh Franklin. Smith conceals evidence that places the farmer's daughter, 12-year-old Tammy, at the scene. Soon the police are investigating the crime, and Markby finds himself drawn into the investigation. Meredith also becomes involved, through an acquaintance, Jane Brady, who is one of Tammy's teachers. Could Tammy or her father have murdered Sonia Franklin? Jane believes passionately in their innocence, but there seem to be few other suspects, other than Danny Smith or Hugh Franklin's brother, Simon, a well-known historian. While trying to sort out a lull in their often touchy relationship, Meredith and Alan approach the case from different angles, eventually arriving at the tragic truth. As usual, Granger offers a tidily constructed, enjoyable whodunit. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Yet another homicide for Superintendent Alan Markbys Bamford precinct (Call the Dead Again, 1999, etc.). Widower Hugh Franklin, owner of none-too-prosperous Hazelwood Farm and father of 12-year-old Tammy, had taken another wife, fun-loving, man-chasing Sonia Lambert. As might be predicted, the marriage had never worked too well, but Hugh, his bookish brother Simon, and everyone who knew her are shocked when Sonias body, stabbed to death, is found on a nearby railway embankment by gypsy Danny Smith. As Markby and newly promoted Inspector Dave Pearce begin their investigation, Jane Brady, Tammys teacher at St. Clares, tries to help but soon suspects that Tammy is hiding something. Markbys girlfriend Meredith Mitchell, a Foreign Service worker now based in London and owner of an ancient cottage in Bamford, also tries to help by checking out the suspects who had reason to cheer Sonias death. The line begins just down the road from Hazelwood Farm, at the modest B&B run by Derry and Belinda Haywood. Derry was one of Sonias flings; so was woodworker Peter Burke, once involved with Jane. Simon Franklin, recently broken up and then reconciled with Bethan Talbot, was another of Sonias targets. Not until Merediths house has been thoroughly vandalizedand Derry Haywood viciously attacked, and Tammy has told alldoes the solution arrive. The customary assortment of intriguing locals adds interest and a bit of tension to a generally phlegmatic plot: a boon, nevertheless, to lovers of the British village procedural. --
Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
by Ann Granger
by Ann Granger
by Simon Brett
by Simon Brett
