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When a child goes missing at the local tennis club on the day when several skeletons are unearthed on an Ashford building site, Chief Superintendent Fran Harman finds her caseload heavier than ever. A further shocking discovery in the skeleton case suggests there may be a serial killer lurking rather closer than Fran would wish.
A Lina Townend mystery - Antiques dealer Lina Townend – bright, sharp, and pretty – is making a name for herself as a restorer, with a national reputation for honesty. So when she spots a dead body in a field, she calls the police – only for it to promptly vanish. And it seems that her luck has entirely deserted her when she’s accused of stealing two Anglo-Saxon rings, and no one seems to believe she’s innocent. So when her love life looks up, Lina’s delighted – and unprepared when things take a frightening turn for the worse . . .
When a colleague becomes seriously ill, Chief Superintendent Fran Harman has to delay her impending retirement to oversee an investigation into a recent spate of 'happy-slappings' and minor assaults in the area.The wave of incidents has ignited a media furore and Fran soon finds herself having to spend as much time trying to control the press as trying to catch the criminals. However, the local reporter who initially broke the story may have personal reasons for taking such an avid interest in the case. As the crimes escalate in severity, Fran must call on all her resources in order to resolve the nightmare that has developed around her.
The latest intriguing mystery featuring feisty antiques dealer Lina Townend. It’s a busy weekend for Lina: she wins a dance competition, annoys a valuable client and has to play gooseberry when Griff, her business partner, meets an old flame. Killing time, she drives across Dartmoor, only to find two men robbing a medieval church. Outraged, she manages to stop them – only to discover that it’s not just in Devon that they are working. Safely back in Kent, she makes some new friends. One, a frail and confused pensioner, may have been the victim of a heartless crime. Another is a bright young woman eager to hear all about Lina’s life. But suddenly Lina realises that she may have made new enemies too – or maybe just stirred up some very dangerous old ones.
With her abusive ex-husband in prison, Jane Cowan finally has the confidence to accept a new job: head teacher of the primary school in the Kentish village of Wrayford. But her new life is soon disrupted when a mysterious intruder breaks into her school and then later when a child is badly hurt in the playground - only Jane suspects that her fall was not accidental. Are the two incidents connected?After another child suffers life-threatening injuries, Jane must become the pursuer and not the prey if she is to protect the pupils in her charge. However, when the children and teachers alike begin to act suspiciously and Jane finds that she herself is a target, fears and doubts that she thought were behind her begin to resurface.
A church party turns deadly for antiques dealer Lina Townend when she thwarts a thief in this British mystery. Helping out at a church fête is about the last thing Lina Townend wants to do on a beautiful summer’s afternoon. But since the vicar is an old friend, Lina finds herself agreeing to sell a bunch of bric-a-brac. Nothing too exciting happens at the harmless event—until someone tries to steal a tatty old snuffbox. While the piece doesn’t look like much, it seems the box is valuable enough for the would-be thief to attack Lina’s business partner Griff, frame Lina for a crime—and kill an old friend. Lina never imagined a little old snuffbox could cause so much trouble. Now, she has to clear her name by catching the real culprit, before anyone else gets snuffed out.
Tobias Campion, rector of Moreton St Jude, is delighted to welcome the widowed Lady Chase as his parishioner. Charming and generous-spirited, she nonetheless harbours a secret sorrow: her son is missing, presumed dead, and her loathsome nephew Sir Marcus is desperate to declare himself heir to the estate. Much as Tobias dislikes Marcus, his feelings for another member of the family are rather different - the lovely Lady Dorothea enchants him from the very start, not least because of her kindly ways with the enigmatic governess Anne. Then Anne disappears on the very day that the body of a stranger is found in a local river. Surely she has not had a hand in his death? When it transpires that the man might have been bringing news of Lady Chase's missing son, Tobias is forced to quit the village to uncover the truth. Unfortunately, many of those he encounters in his travels are equally determined to keep the past well hidden...
A head teacher's work is never done, especially if, like Jane Cowan, you're a victim of your own success. Having done well with Wrayford Primary, she's now expected to bring other neighbouring schools up to scratch as well. And allthese responsibilities are compounded by an influx of children, most of whom do not speak English, following their families supplying cheap labour to surrounding farms. Jane can't turn a blind eye to the conditions in which many of these families are living, even more so when some children simply disappear. When everything points to the shadowy dealings of people smugglers in the area, she has her work cut out for her seeing justice done. And that's before a threat far closer to home rears his head.
Actress Vena Burford is 'resting' between jobs. But needs must, and with few voice-over jobs in the pipeline, Vena takes on a few jobs for friends and family around the idyllic Stratford-Upon-Avon. But interior design leads her to violent threats and showing prospective buyers around houses ushers in a drug-smuggling ring. Vena comes to know all too well that the countryside is far from quiet.
While Jane waits for renovations to be completed on her new permanent home, she remains in temporary accommodation under the watchful eye of her landlord Brian Dawes, chair of the governors at Wrayford School. Her work life is dominated by preparations for the all-important school play, but behind the scenes the threat of major cuts to the school's budget puts a strain on morale. Alongside these concerns are her landlord's deteriorating health and the odd behaviour of her neighbours - both mysteries she could do without. As events unravel and with her students' welfare at the forefront of her mind, can Jane unravel the curiosities in which she finds herself tangled?