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 ...

After several years abroad with the British Foreign Service, Meredith Mitchell settles in Pook's Common and soon finds herself solving the riddle of her neighbor's death. Reprint.

Evil Unearthed Progress has overtaken the charming English village of Bamford in the Cotswolds—and Chief Inspector Alan Markby resents the heartless desecration of his boyhood home. But when a bulldozer uncovers the corpse of a mystery man buried alive on what was once Lonely Farm, Markby realizes that shopping malls and fast-food may be the least of Bamford’s woes. Having accepted her friend Markby’s invitation to spend some vacation time in the country, consular officer Meredith Mitchell once again finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation. For just beneath the surface of this quaint, quiet community, something sordid and deadly is growing—a devastating evil that must be weeded out of one family’s garden of terrible secrets.

The quiet little Cotswold village is in an uproar over the news that the rambling old Victorian landmark, Springwood Hall, is being turned into an up-market country hotel and restaurant. Some locals are miffed over an imported superstar chef crowding out their resident culinary genius, while Hope Mapple, speaking for the Society for the Preservation of Historic Bamford, expresses her outrage by streaking the gala opening party.But the locals' protests are quickly upstaged by the discovery of a murdered body in the wine cellar. And for Chief Inspector Markby and his lovely weekend guest Meredith Mitchell, the promise of a romantic country rendezvous turns into a deadly serious affair.

Ingeniously plotted and full of vividly drawn characters, Where Old Bones Lie is Ann Granger's fifth crime novel featuring the exciting sleuthing team of Alan Markby and Meredith Mitchell. What do you do when you think your ex-lover murdered his wife? That's the question Ursula Gretton, an archaeologist working on an ancient Saxon burial ground on Bamford Hill, puts to Meredith Mitchell in the hope that Meredith's friendship with Cotswold chief inspector Alan Markby might cast some light on her dilemma. To Meredith's irritation, Markby is dismissive of Ursula's suspicions concerning the disappearance of Dan Wollard's wife - that is, until a woman's body is found in the garbage dump near the site Wollard and Ursula have been excavating. The archaeologists aren't the only ones disturbing the peace of the remote windswept hill. Much to the fury of the local landowners, the taciturn and truculent Felstons, a band of New Age hippies has set up camp on the hill, only to disappear at dawn the day after the discovery of the body. Markby is faced with a tangle of conflicting clues, suspects and possible witnesses - including Meredith Mitchell herself. And when a second body is found it is clear the web is growing ever more complex - and destructive.

In the heart of the leafy Cotswolds a body is found. A teenage girl, probably local, somebody's daughter who went out one evening and didn't come back. It is not long before she is identified: fifteen-year-old Lynne Wills who habitually drank underage in 'The Silver Bells' pub and, on the night of her death, was seen leaving with an unknown man. Chief Inspector Markby's friend Meredith Mitchell has been befriended by another troubled young local girl, Katie Conway. On the surface Lynne and Katie have nothing in common except their age and home town. But could the insights Katie gives Meredith into her difficult family background—an unstable, aristocratic mother, a doting father at the end of his tether, and a scheming resident secretary—throw some light on the other young girl? And, given that forensic evidence now points to Lynne Wills' murder having taken place in the Devaux family mausoleum, on her murder too ...?

Accompanied by Meredith Mitchell, Chief Inspector Alan Markby is enjoying the Chelsea Flower Show, until he runs into his ex-wife and her current husband, and when the husband is murdered with a poisoned thorn, Markby and Mitchell set out to find the killer. Reprint. NYT.

A macabre discovery in the All Saints' parish graveyard leads Superintendent Alan Markby and his friend, foreign office official Meredith Mitchell, to the dark secret behind the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl twelve years earlier. The vicar of Bamford, Maurice Appleton, knew he was a dying man. When he discovered traces of a strange, unauthorized ritual in his church, he pleaded with parishioners to say nothing about the black-swathed candle and the flowers anonymously placed on the altar. For twelve years, the incident was forgotten. Then, one unseasonably chilly summer's day, a corpse is unearthed in the Gresham family plot. The remains are too shallowly buried to have been legitimately interred and too recent to be those of the last Gresham laid to rest. For Superintendent Markby, newly returned to his old haunts, the challenge of the unsolved crime proves irresistible. Suddenly, his plans for a long-awaited holiday with Meredith are in jeopardy. When the body is identified as that of a local teenager, Kimberley Oates, who was reported missing at the time of the mysterious burial, Markby's mind is made up. To Meredith's secret relief, the holiday is canceled. She finds herself with more time than usual for village chat - and for a dinner party with the local MP that reveals more than either he or his formidable mother would like about his connection to the dead girl.

When Sally Caswell persuaded her scientist husband Liam to move from London to the quiet of rural Oxfordshire it was in the hope of a more peaceful existence. But so far the move has led to nothing but discord. Liam's sabbatical book project is not going well so, frustrated and isolated, he quarrels incessantly both with Sally and with their next-door neighbour, the crotchety pensioner Bodicote whose unruly goats are a constant source of contention. But then a mysterious package arrives that gives the couple real cause for anxiety. It appears that Liam is being targeted by animal rights activists, though Superintendent Markby, in charge of the investigation, is not entirely convinced. Liam has many enemies, Bodicote amongs them, and it seems to Markby that Liam's cantankerous old neighbour is hiding something. The more Markby investigates, the more his unease grows - as does that of Meredith Mitchell, Markby's girlfriend and an old friend of Sally Caswell, for Meredith suspects Sally is far from well. Then a body is found ...

Inspector Alan Markby and his long-time friend Meredith Mitchell have taken a cottage in the country for a much needed holiday. But so sooner are they relaxing with a neighbor over a glass of blackberry wine, when Markby is being badgered for an "off the record" opinion about a somewhat suspicious accidental death. Retired journalist Wynne Carter has been satisfying her professional curiosity by investigating a former villager: Olivia Smeaton, a reserved old lady with a racy past whose life—and recent fatal fall—leave a lot of questions unanswered. Determinedly off duty, Markby grumbles that the woman's death was probably caused by a loose slipper sole. Still, Meredith's interest is piqued by suggestive acts of vandalism that have been striking the village, including the malicious poisoning of the victim's much-loved pony. And, when another body is found, even Markby must admit that there is foul play afoot. with the villagers becoming increasingly unfriendly, and the mysterious violence continuing, Meredith and Markby begin to fear that Olivia's death may have been just the first of many, unless the two of them can make sense of the scandalous secrets so carefully hidden by the inhabitants of the seemingly peaceful Cotswold village.

Meredith Mitchell investigates the murder of local lawyer after giving a mysterious hitchhiker a ride to his house the night before he was murdered. Original.

Twelve-year-old Tammy Franklin has learned too much about death, too quickly. Two years ago she lost her mother to a long, lingering illness and now the body of the woman her father married in an attempt to replace his wife has been found on a railway embankment close to the Franklin farm. This time the death is murder. As Superintendent Markby, one of the first on the scene, well knows, Tammy now stands to have her father taken from her, for Hugh Franklin is suspect number one in the mind of the inspector to whom Markby has delegated the case. But, despite his need to distance himself from the murder, Markby begins to realise that the truth is destined to be far more complex than he ever envisaged ...

In 1889 the late Cora Oakley’s husband William was put on trial for her murder. The case was dismissed, but Oakley fled the country, never to be heard of again. Over a hundred years later, the only remaining members of the family are two elderly sisters who, after years of struggling to maintain their dilapidated ancestral home, have decided to sell up. But then Jan, a young Polish man who says he is William Oakley’s great-grandson, comes to visit, and claims half the profits from the sale of the house. When Jan is found dead, poisoned by the same substance used to kill his great-grandmother, it seems that the shadow of murder has returned to haunt the Oakley family once again, and Superintendent Markby must look back at the events of a century ago to find the killer...

It sends a shiver down Detective Superintendent Alan Markby's spine when he hears that a rambler has stumbled on human bones in Stovey Woods in the heart of the Cotswolds. Twenty-two years ago, as a fresh-faced young inspector, he had a rare failure in the hunt for a brutal serial rapist preying on local women. After the third rape, the attacker went to ground, never to be heard of again. Now, with a new investigation prompted by the grisly remains, the trail could be warm once more. But almost at once Markby is confronted with another body and a thoroughly up-to-date murder. Could the two be connected? 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 ...

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.

No one feels safe when there's a murderer in their midst... Ann Granger returns to her fan favourite series with the gripping sixteenth Mitchell and Markby novel, featuring her trademark strong and appealing characters, gentle wit and engrossing intrigue. Superintendent Alan Markby and his wife Meredith have retired for the night when they are disturbed by a visitor. It's not the first time someone has called at the Old Vicarage in search of a priest, but in this case, having just found a dead body in the churchyard, Callum Henderson needs the police. Accompanying Callum to the graveyard, Alan declares that this has all the hallmarks of a murder scene. News of the incident travels fast in the market town of Bamford, but no one seems willing to admit to knowing the dead man or how he ended up in the cemetery. As Alan and his team search for clues, Meredith becomes convinced that something must have been overlooked. Meanwhile, despite Alan's warnings, Callum appears to be in cahoots with the team's latest recruit, DS Beth Santos. While every lead points to yet more foul play, nothing can prepare Meredith and Markby for the shocking truth behind this mystery...