Somerset whodunit mysteries

A lovely little spot for murder! Not much happens in Biddle Rhyne, a quiet, picturesque village in the southwest of England. Especially if you don't count the meat raffle on a Thursday night and the odd sheep escaping a field. However, that's all set to change when Julia Ford, a normal(ish) twenty-something who works in the local pub, stumbles upon a murder victim. Upsetting, but not the end of the world. Particularly as the victim is Audrey White, the cantankerous owner of a nearby garden center. But when the police discover Julia had argued with the woman in the past, and her fingerprints are found on a death threat, she is accused of the crime, and her life is turned upside down. Released on police bail and encumbered with an unfetching ankle tag, Julia will have to clear her own name. Yet the murderer is intent that she takes the fall. Will Julia land on her feet?

When an amateur sleuth's pub colleague is bumped off, can she work out who called time at the bar? Since getting her life back on track after being wrongly accused of murder, Julia Ford is finally realizing her ambition of opening a bookshop in the sleepy English village of Biddle Rhyne. But, best laid plans and all that, things go awry when she stumbles upon the body of Barry, who worked alongside her in the local pub. That another murder has occurred doesn't take much deducing: the knife sticking out of his back strongly suggests it was no accident. This is just the beginning of a series of strange occurrences, including stolen diggers, giant haystacks, haunted playground swings, and human remains that drag Julia, kicking and screaming, into another serious(ish) investigation. Juggling a nascent career in crime-solving with one in bookselling, Julia has a lot on her plate. Can she catch another killer, or was her first case beginner's luck?

An amateur sleuth is tasked with clearing the name of an accused man . . . Julia Ford's dream of running a bookshop in the small Somerset town of Biddle Rhyne is fast becoming a nightmare, with the lack of traffic and high running costs. So when the door opens, she hopes it will be a wealthy customer. Rather it is a desperate man-a local accountant whom the police have fingered for murder. Having gained a reputation for solving crimes, Julia takes pity on the disheveled Mr. Cutty-even though he doesn't buy a book-and vows to help him. Yet the victim was seen arguing with Cutty, and named him in her dying breath. No wonder the police are intent on charging him. With a village fête on the horizon and local tempers running high over the planned bake-off, will Julia manage to unravel the mystery?