DISCOVER A PAGE-TURNING MURDER MYSTERY SET IN THE IDYLLIC COTSWOLD HILLS. Praise for J. M. ‘Begins with quiet observation before pouncing to murderous effect.’ Sunday Express ‘A chilling story that never flags from start to finish.’ Bolton Evening News ____________________ Walter Fletcher looks around at the angry faces of his children and realises why they’d come. The family gathering was all a scheme to drive him from High Beeches and into a home. Their barely concealed, selfish reasons for wanting him out harden his resolve. And the next day he declares his plan to paint the outside of the house – an assertion that he intends to stay put. But the decision proves fatal. The sun is still well above the trees on his first day of work when the base of his ladder slides sideways. His body hits the ground with the awful crunch of breaking bones. At the old man’s funeral, they call it an ‘Accidental Death’. But as Walter’s granddaughter studies the solemn graveside faces, she wonders who’s inwardly rejoicing. And the girl’s suspicions of foul play soon prove well founded. As Lambert and Hook conduct their investigation in the claustrophobic valleys of the Forest of Dean, Lambert feels as though his movements are followed by sinister, unseen eyes. And among them, are those belonging to Walter Fletcher’s murderer. This gripping police procedural is perfect for fans of Betty Rowlands, Agatha Christie, L. J. Ross, Joy Ellis, M.C. Beaton, or Faith Martin. READERS LOVE LAMBERT AND HOOK : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I could just read his books over and over.’ Leyla ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Everything that an English mystery should be!’ lcb ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Despite stiff competition Gregson is one of the best.’ John L THE DETECTIVES Entering middle age, Superintendent John Lambert has a lifetime of experience under his belt. He may be less spirited than he was in his youth. And more reluctant to leave the peaceful bliss of the garden or the golf course. But his policeman’s instincts are sharp and unshakeable. Detective Sergeant Bert Hook is five years Lambert’s junior, but his ponderous gait and demeanour make him seem the older of the two. His village bobby exterior conceals a shrewd and active brain. THE SETTING Much of the Cotswolds is made up of villages busy with their own concerns. They’re connected by hawthorn-edged lanes and separated by the River Severn, which traces a serpentine route between farmlands, cricket fields, and ancient cathedral cities. There are tracts where the river scarcely moves, passing between rich, green valleys. And all manner of things get trapped here by the low-hanging boughs of willows. In the city of Gloucester, both the river and the people move faster. It's not a city like London, or even Oxford. But a busy place, where people don’t have much time to study those who pass them in the streets. Not so good for disposing of a body, but perfect for dissolving into a crowd. Lambert and Hook Series Book 1: Murder at the Nineteenth Book 2: Making a Killing Book 3: Dead on Course Book 4: Bring Forth Your Dead Book 5: The Fox in the Forest Book 6: Stranglehold Book 7: Watermarked Book 8: Death of a Nobody Book 9: Accident by Design Book 10: Body Politic Book 11: Girl Gone Missing Book 12: Malice Aforethought Book 13: An Unsuitable Death Book 14: An Academic Death Book 15: Death on the Eleventh Hole