Falconer Files Murder Mysteries

`A mischievously entertaining crime novel' SIMON BRETT The first instalment in The Falconer Files, Andrea Frazer's insanely grippingvillage detective series with a delightful slice of humour. Perfect for fans ofAgatha Christie, Lillian Jackson Braun and Midsomer Murders. READER'S CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF ANDREA'S QUIRKY CRIME NOVELS! ***** 'Probably one of the best mystery novels I have read. Such complex characters... and a lovely description of village life' Reader Review ***** 'Fantastic read. Nice and easy with interesting characters. So lifelike you could conjure up a picture of each member. Brilliant!' Reader Review ***** 'This is simply an excellent classic whodunnit in the same library as Agatha Christie or Lillian Jackson Braun!!' Reader Review ***** 'Brilliantly written kept me thinking who done it. Highly recommended. Will be reading more...' Reader Review ___________ In the village of Castle Farthing a mean-spirited, spiteful, curmudgeonly old man is found drugged and strangled in the kitchen of his cottage, with no obvious clues to the perpetrator of the crime. DI Falconer and Acting DS Carmichael are summoned from the police headquarters in the nearby town of Market Darley and begin to uncover a web of grudges against the old man and a sea of familial connections between those who knew him. As the heat of July continues relentlessly, tempers flare, disturbing the usual rural calm of the village, and the normally imperturbable Harry Falconer. Faced with a crime with no obvious prime suspect and the idiosyncrasies of his new partner, Carmichael, is he gradually losing his grip on the case as the body count rises?

The villagers of Stoney Cross were bustling about like hyperactive ants. In gardens, houses, and the village hall, figures flitted to and fro, making last-minute preparations for their 'Great Event': the first Stoney Cross Arts Festival, which was due to commence on Saturday. The enlisting of a local radio presenter to advertise then review their efforts had added an extra frisson of excitement. But the delight soon turns to dismay when the broadcaster, Marcus Willoughby, actually moves into a house in Stoney Cross the day before the Festival. He turns out to be someone from various people's pasts; someone whom they had hoped never to see again, and who greets them with recognition and malice in his eyes. To those he had never met before, he simply proves to be a smarmy, spiteful bigot, who proceeds to take great delight in verbally shredding their artistic efforts. When he is found dead at his desk in his new home, no crocodile tears are shed. His demise is even presented on air, during his pre-recorded radio show Marcus having been 'choked off' for good while in full flow. His arrival in the village had obviously caused a few already guilty hearts to beat faster, and precipitates the hasty confessions of dark deeds thought long since buried. Into this welter of emotions join DI Harry Falconer and his erstwhile Acting Detective Sergeant, 'Davey' Carmichael, riding shotgun as they enter 'bandit' country once more.

In the quiet village of Steynham St Michael there is an anonymous letter writer at work, jabbing and stabbing at the past's Achilles' heels of many of the upright citizens living there. After one resident is driven to extreme measures to escape exposure, another is driven to murder. In the village cards club, which meets once a week, tongues begin to wag, not only about the identities of the murderer and the poison pen letter-writer, but also about who exactly has received a letter. There are also changes afoot at Market Darley Police Headquarters, as the national economy dictates that it accepts the straitened circumstances planned for it, and complies with recommendations for change. And before any of this even happens, Harry Falconer drifts up from unconsciousness to find himself in complete darkness and barely able to move, the only sound being that of someone moaning in pain...

The body of a woman has been discovered in Castle Farthing Woods, and it appears that although she had been dead for years, nobody had ever reported her missing. DI Harry Falconer of the Market Darley police is perplexed – and not only in his working life. He has recently resumed his relationship with psychologist Dr Honey Dubois – but while visiting a local village in the course of his investigations, unsettling memories of a former love are revived. As Falconer's sidekick DS Carmichael is coping with the early birth of his twins, the DI is forced to form a closer bond with his new constable, as they try to solve a nightmare conundrum.