Margaretanne A Wade

Everyone in the small town of Hemingway Grove knows David and Marcie Bowers. David owns the local pub. Marcie is a former big-city lawyer who practises family law. When David jumps into Cotton River to save a drowning stranger, he’s celebrated as a hero and his daring actions are broadcast on every news outlet. For most people, newfound fame is a lifeline. For David, it’s a death sentence. For Marcie, it’s a test.

Kitty Underhay hopes for plain sailing as she caters a 21st birthday party for the chief constable’s daughter aboard a luxury paddle steamer. So her heart sinks when she learns that the man her fiancé Matthew has been tailing on orders from Whitehall, Gunther Freiburg, is aboard. And she’s even more horrified when she steps below deck to discover Gunther, dead in the engine room. One of the chief constable’s party must be responsible for his demise, but who, and why?

1934. Accidental amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay is being escorted by ex-army captain Matthew Bryant on an errand of mercy, as she takes a basket of grapes to her nemesis Mrs. Craven, who is recuperating from a recent operation. But their arrival at Elm House Nursing Home coincides with the mysterious death of Lady Wellings, a long-term resident.

When some school strawberry plants are vandalised, a lost shoe buckle at the scene of the crime leads straight to the Naughtiest Girl. The next night, as she's dropping off to sleep, someone shouts 'Fire!' - so Elizabeth jumps up and rings the fire bell. But there is no fire and now Elizabeth is being blamed for a catalogue of silly tricks. If she can't prove her innocence, she's in line to lose her hard-won part in the school play.