Steering a path between police duties and family loyalty is not easy... Say it with Poison is the first classic English village crime novel in the Mitchell & Markby series by Ann Granger, combining a satisfyingly complex mystery with engaging characters and wit. The perfect read for fans of M.C. Beaton, Agatha Christie and ITV's Midsomer Murders. 'A gripping tale... you'll soon be addicted' - Woman and Home When Meredith Mitchell agreed to stay with her actress cousin Eve in the run-up to Eve's daughter's wedding she anticipated a degree of drama. But she hardly expected it to include murder, blackmail and unrequited love. Or to involve a certain Chief Inspector Markby, a middle-aged divorcee with an emotional history as unfortunate as her own. A material witness to the only case of murder the Cotswold village of Westerfield has ever seen, Meredith also finds herself acting as mother-confessor to the bride-to-be, who is clearly not telling the whole truth about her involvement with the dead man. Steering a path between her duty to the police and loyalty to her cousin's family is not easy; even for someone with Meredith's considerable diplomatic skills. And especially as her personal enquiries into events in Westerfield start to disinter past affections Meredith would far rather leave buried - and to provoke new ones she's not at all sure she can cope with ... What readers are saying about Say it with Poison: 'Thoroughly recommend to anyone looking for a good English whodunit or just a really good story to keep the reader intrigued and interested to the last page' 'Hooked from the first page' 'Brilliant in its conception, kept me thoroughly enthralled'

The murder of a bride's ex-lover on the eve of her wedding puts her diplomat aunt, Meredith Mitchell, and acerbic Chief Inspector Alan Markby on the trail of a killer who may be the bride herself, her movie-star mother, or one of many other suspects

Meredith Mitchell is delighted when an old friend from her consular days, Toby Smythe, turns up on leave between foreign postings. But Toby has a problem---or rather his relative Alison Jenner has---and Toby wants to enlist the help of Meredith's fiancé, Detective Superintendent Alan Markby. Alison has been receiving anonymous hate mail in which reference is made to a time twenty-five years earlier when she stood trial for the murder of her aunt, Freda Kemp, but was acquitted. Who is the writer, and how does he or she know about this secret in Alison's past? Markby is reluctant to become involved, not least because Toby is hardly his favorite person. Besides, he and Meredith are planning their wedding, and distractions aren't welcome. But inquiries into a poisoned pen campaign soon turn into a murder investigation. With the help of Inspector Jessica Campbell, a new member of Markby's team, and the non-professional but enthusiastic assistance of Meredith and Toby, the inquiry unravels a twenty-five-year-old mystery and its dreadful legacy of violence.

Since the end of the nineteenth century, the Oakley family of Bamford, England, has lived in the shadow of tragedy. In 1889, Cora Oakley died by inhaling a poisonous gas in her sleep, and her husband William was put on trial for the murder. Although the case was dismissed, Oakley's reputation was ruined, and he fled the country, never to be heard from again. Over a hundred years later, the only remaining members of the Oakley family are two elderly sisters living in Bamford, who exist in poverty in their rambling ancestral home, Fourways. Unable to maintain their mansion, the sisters have decided to sell the house and live comfortably on the proceeds. But a young Polish man named Jan appears, claiming to be William Oakley's great-grandson and brandishing what he alleges is Oakley's will, which entitles him to half the profits from the sale. The sisters panic, knowing that, although Jan's claims don't stand up, a court case could drag on for years, and time is not on their side. When Jan is found dead, poisoned by the same substance used to kill his great-grandmother so many years ago, it seems that murder has returned to haunt the Oakley family once again, and Superintendent Markby must unravel two mysteries, one from a hundred years ago, to find the killer. In Shades of Murder, Ann Granger has crafted another tough case for Mitchell and Markby.

When Meredith Mitchell bumps into her old schoolfriend Rachel Hunter at the Chelsea Flower Show it doesn't take Meredith long to realise that she and the effortlessly self-confident blonde have even less in common now than they had as teenagers. Apart from one thing - Meredith's companion, Chief Inspector Markby. For to the embarrassment of all concerned, except of course the self-possessed Rachel, Meredith's old schoolfriend turns out to have been Markby's former wife, from whom he was divorced years before in less than friendly circumstances. The meeting with Rachel is not the only surprise the Flower Show has in store for Markby - before the afternoon is out he has a death on his hands. All too quickly he and Meredith find themselves drawn into the plush, apparently well-run world Rachel and her second husband created for themselves in their Cotswold home, Malefis Abbey, a world which Markby becomes increasingly convinced harbours a highly skilled murderer ...

The Boxing Day Hunt leads to a hunt for a killer... A Season for Murder is the second cosy and colourful English village mystery in Ann Granger's Mitchell & Markby series. This thrilling whodunit will enthral fans of Colin Dexter, Agatha Christie and ITV's Midsomer Murders. 'A good feel for understated humour, a nice ear for dialogue' - The Times It is with some trepidation that Meredith Mitchell returns to the Cotswolds: the Bamford district holds memories that, to put it generously, are bittersweet, and Christmas is a difficult time to find oneself a stranger in a new area. Yet she receives a kindly welcome, in particular from her old acquaintance Chief Inspector Markby and from her new neighbour Harriet Needham, a striking redhead with whom Meredith immediately feels a certain kinship. But Meredith has barely got to know her neighbour when Harriet is involved in a shocking - and fatal - accident at the Boxing Day Hunt. Witnesses to the death are plentiful, for the incident occurred in Bamford's crowded market square, and many are adamant it's a case of murder. Chief Inspector Markby is inclined to agree, although he suspects the guilty party is not the most obvious one. Before long Meredith Mitchell begins, reluctantly, to think he might be right ... What readers are saying about A Season for Murder: 'The writing is witty and engaging, the characters are well rounded and the reader is left wanting to know more about what might happen in the future to them' 'The interplay between Mitchell and Markby and the clashes and stresses of their own lives nicely balances the intelligent plots' 'Really addictive. Very cleverly woven'

The officer on duty at Bamford police station is skeptical when he takes a call from Guy Morgan. Morgan claims to have stumbled upon human bones in Stovey Woods in the heart of the Cotswalds, but surely animal bones are more likely? Morgan, though, is a doctor as well as a hiker, and he knows exactly what he's found. It sends a shiver down Detective Alan Markby's spine when he hears the news. Twenty-two years ago, as a fresh-faced young inspector, he had a rare failure: His hunt for a brutal serial rapist preying on local women in the Stovey woods came up empty. After the third rape, the attacker disappeared, never to be heard of again. Now, with a new investigation prompted by Morgan's grisly discovery, the trail could be warm once more. But almost at once Markby is confronted with another body and a thoroughly up-to-date murder. Markby's lover, Meredith Mitchell, can't help but wonder: Could the two be connected? But as both are about to find out, it seems that some of the village residents would be just as happy to let sleeping dogs lie and secrets-both old and new-stay hidden...