The start of a new mystery series from the creator of Ellie Quicke - Newly widowed Bea Abbott must decide what to do with her deceased husband's business, an exclusive organization handling domestic crises. Though Bea is tempted to sell up, she soon begins investigating an accounting irregularity...
Bea helped Gail out of the restaurant. ‘You’re ill. What’s your doctor’s telephone number?’ Gail leaned against the window of a newsagent’s. ‘It’s a Wednesday, isn’t it? The surgery’s closed on Wednesday afternoons.’ ‘You’ll get dehydrated if you go on like this. Suppose I take you to the Acciden...
‘They’ve just gone, and I’m on my way back. I’m going to call in at the police station on the way. Everything all right at your end?’ ‘That Grace woman rang; wants you to go to the cinema with her this afternoon. I made your apologies. Pat’s gone down with a sore throat again, so I told her to ta...
‘Quite the little old busybody, aren’t you? I can’t feel your presence is helpful at the moment, and I must ask you to leave the family to grieve in peace.’ Ellie blinked. Little old busybody? Those words hurt, as they were designed to do. In the old days, Ellie might have burst into tears at bei...
‘Zander’s job is safe, the baddies have been exposed, and I think we can trust Lord Murchison to mop up any other problems which may arise.’ She listened to herself. Was she being too emphatic? It was all over, wasn’t it? Maggie had coloured her hair pink today, and she had outlined her eyes with...
Across his path lay a dusty road, and beyond that rose the curtain walls and towers of a large castle. It was not at all what he had expected to see. He looked about him. He was a tall man, and despite his homespun cloak, there was an air of authority about him. A party of beggars were advancing ...
Bea stretched out in bed, enjoying those last few moments of peace and quiet. She usually woke to the sound of Maggie turning on the television and radio downstairs. Dead on half past seven, Maggie would clump in with a cup of tea and draw the curtains back. It was amazing how some people could m...
‘I should have had it out in the open. I should have got her antidepressants.’ He straightened up. ‘I should have got the sleeping pills for her.’ ‘She didn’t ask you to do so, did she?’ He shook his head. ‘She didn’t want you to bear any guilt in this. She arranged that you would be away.’ He wa...
As an afterthought, she bought some cold meats from the deli for anyone who might want a sandwich over the weekend and hadn’t time to cook a meal. Then she went to see the florist in the Avenue. The owner was nowhere to be seen and unfortunately her assistant turned out to be a ditherer. Ellie sa...
She’d filled her spare time by looking after her husband’s aged aunt, working in the local charity shop, singing in the choir at church and helping out wherever required in the community. With what sometimes seemed like dizzying speed Ellie had been widowed, inherited money and property, and then...
This path led across the landing and to a second flight of stairs, but Vera wanted to show off the first-floor bedrooms first. Lots of spacious bedrooms with big windows, most en suite. Lots of dust, no footprints. Again, there were darker patches on the walls showing where pictures and large pie...
‘You have to understand how it was in my family. Mikey, you never knew your grandfather and grandmother. I’ve not talked about them much, have I?’ Mikey didn’t look at her. ‘You were ashamed of them because they ran a fish and chip shop.’ Patches of red burned on Vera’s cheeks. ‘I never said that...
Oliver was on the phone, planning to go out with Zander for a jazz session. Maggie said she might join them or not. She wasn’t sure. ‘A word?’ CJ managed to cut Bea out and take her to the sitting room. ‘News?’ ‘Can you spare an hour to visit someone with me? I’ve traced the telephone number Tomi...
. . and halted in mid-stride. Her important member of parliament son’s car was parked outside her house. Of course she was delighted to see him. It gave her a lift of the heart to think he’d come to visit her . . . followed by a downturn of spirits when she remembered that he didn’t usually call ...
What she couldn’t imagine was Maggie failing to own up. Maggie wasn’t like that. Or was she? Was this trivial accident the cause of her tears the other evening? Bea sat down in the chair at the desk with a bump. Was the open-hearted, vulnerable, feisty girl she had taken into her heart a reality?...
Trying to find a hankie? ‘Watch me!’ said Bea, pushing a box of tissues towards the girl. ‘You don’t understand. I can’t upset things or we’ll all be ruined. Auntie—’ ‘What about Auntie?’ said that redoubtable female, entering the room. Dilys stifled a scream. ‘I’m bored, hanging around, waiting ...