Showing results by author "Faith Martin" in All Categories

Murder Among the Spires, a new HQ Digital book, full description to follow when available...

Don't miss A Dangerous Train of Thought, the thrilling latest installment in the Ryder & Loveday series! Pre-order now. ‘The pairing of Ryder and Loveday is a stroke of genius.’ Clare Chase, author of the Eve Mallow and Tara Thorpe mysteries Oxfordshire, 1962. As May Day dawns in the...

Jenny Starling is spending Christmas in a snowed-in country house cooking all the traditional food she loves. But the family she’s working for are not full of the seasonal spirit. In fact, they seem to hate each other. On Christmas Eve, someone is found dead on the kitchen table. And the head of the family is blaming Jenny! But with an incompetent detective called in, and seemingly no motive for the murder, Jenny will have to give the police a hand. She will stop at nothing to clear her name and find the real murderer.

Jenny Starling has a job on a luxury paddle steamer working for a wealthy businessman. All she has to do is cook for his small number of guests. But things quickly turn sour. Then she discovers the body of one of the passengers in the store cupboard. Who wanted him dead and why? Jenny will have to ignore many red herrings and follow the clues to get to the bottom of a complex and intriguing murder mystery. This is the third of a series of enjoyable murder mysteries with a great cast of characters and baffling crimes which will keep you in suspense to the final second.

Monica Noble is thrilled to be asked to judge a neighboring village’s flower show, even if she can't tell a begonia from an azalea! Her fellow judge Vicar James Davies inhales deeply from a large bloom and drops dead in the tent. At first everyone thinks he’s had a heart attack, but the doctor on hand is suspicious and calls in the police. A second murder quickly follows, this time of one of the main suspects. Monica must help Chief Inspector Jason Dury to solve the two murders and find the killer—fast, before anyone else pays the ultimate price.

Meet Jenny Starling: travelling cook and reluctant amateur detective. Please note this book was first published as Just Not Cricket under Faith Martin’s pen name Joyce Cato. Jenny Starling is doing the catering for the village cricket match. But she’s not expecting one of the players to turn up dead. Everyone from the village has turned out to watch the match, and with this being the club’s centenary, Jenny Starling has been hired specially to provide her stunning food for the event.

Don't miss A Dangerous Train of Thought, the gripping latest installment in the Faith Martin's 1920s cosy crime series! Pre-order now. The perfect Christmas present for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman and M.C. Beaton. ‘A brilliant book! The pairing of Ryder and Loveday is a stroke of...

Hillary will retire in a few weeks. But can her boss get Hillary to change her mind by putting her on a murder investigation? The victim is found dead with his head bashed in with a piece of wood. Michael Ivers was a gambler and a notorious womaniser. He had few friends and there is a long list of people who might have wanted him dead. Hillary wants to solve her final case as a police officer and she has just days left to find out who killed him. To add to her problems, her old enemy, ex-Sergeant Frank Ross is back on the scene and is a prime suspect.

Don't miss A Dangerous Train of Thought, the thrilling latest installment in the Ryder & Loveday series! Pre-order now. ‘A beautifully crafted crime mystery I could not put down.’ Anita Davison, author of the Flora Maguire series Oxford, 1961. As the Hughes family celebrate Bonfire Night, a...

'A cosy romp of cream teas, double-barrelled names and murder.' THE SUN The new book in the Val and Arbie mysteries from the multi-million-copy selling author Faith Martin. One of these guests has a date with death… Arbuthnot ‘Arbie’ Swift arrives at Dashwood House, a glamorously modern...

Wayne Sutton is found dead by a stream in a beautiful meadow. His head has been bashed in and a red paper heart left on his body. The handsome young artist had a reputation as a ladies' man. DI Hillary Greene discovers that many wealthy married women were buying his paintings and taking "private" art lesson from him. It appears that several of them might have wanted him dead. Hillary also has a new detective sergeant, Gemma Fordham. Seemingly efficient and pleasant, she harbors a secret agenda.

Meet DI Hillary Greene, a policewoman struggling to save her career and catch criminals. Edward Philpott is found bludgeoned to death with his own spade in his beautiful garden. He lived with his daughter Rachel and his two grandchildren. Hillary's only lead is a rival from the village flower show who used to argue with the victim about the size of their vegetables. But what dark secrets from the past and present does this village hold?

Jenny Starling has her dream job cooking for Lord and Lady Avonsleigh in a genuine castle. Then one of the castle’s treasures, a fabulously jewelled dagger, is used to murder a staff member. The victim is found stabbed through the heart in the conservatory. Lady Avonsleigh insists that Jenny help the police find the murderer. But how can Jenny solve this case when the murder was committed in front of several reliable witnesses, none of whom saw a thing?

Monica Noble is throwing a party to welcome the village’s new residents. Then as the drinks are flowing, a shotgun blast rings out. One of the guests is found dead. DCI Dury and Sergeant Jim Greer are soon on the scene and discover that the victim had many enemies. Almost all the guests harbor secrets and motives for murder. Even Monica’s daughter comes under suspicion. When another villager is strangled to death nearly a week later, the stakes are raised. Can Monica help the local detectives save her daughter and solve the murders before anyone else pays the ultimate price?

Former Detective Hillary Greene is off on holiday. For a blissful two weeks, her life will be free of murder victims, murder suspects—and, best of all, no paperwork. She’s heading for the beautiful Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye, where she plans to spend her time browsing old bookshops and generally relaxing. Hillary arrives at the picturesque Riverside Inn where the other guests are an eclectic bunch: a charming Irishman, a rich American and his spoilt daughter, a thrice-married Canadian influencer, a wealthy widow and a taciturn taxidermist.

A would-be politician is found battered to death in the kitchen of his expensive home in a lovely Oxfordshire village. His wife's alibi is full of holes, and there's another woman in the background. And what about his seemingly mild-mannered political rival? DI Hillary Greene tries to get to the bottom of this perplexing murder. She certainly doesn't think the prime suspect is as guilty as everyone thinks. Just as she's about to make a breakthrough, everything is turned upside down by a fatal development in another case she is working on....

Monica Noble and her husband Graham, the local vicar, are invited to participate in a high-flying church conference being held at a swanky manor house hotel in their village. At the Saturday night dinner, the ambitious female cleric Celia Gordon tragically dies, seemingly of a peanut allergy. But when Chief Superintendent Jason Dury arrives on the scene he quickly discovers that it's a case of murder.

DI Hillary Greene is called out to attend a suspicious death at Three Oaks Farm in the picturesque village of Steeple Barton. The large farmhouse is filled with music and revelers, but when she steps into the farm's cowshed, Hillary finds a dead bride. Dressed in a sumptuous white wedding gown, the young, beautiful redhead had clearly been strangled. But not everything is what it seems, and the victim turns out to be at the center of a web of jealousy and intrigue in the close-knit village.

Eighteen months after Hillary suffered a personal tragedy, she is throwing herself into her work to try to get over it. Former soldier Gareth Proctor joins her team and finds himself quickly growing to enjoy his new environment. The first cold case he works on is the murder of Andrew Feeley. In 2012, this twenty-one-year-old was found dead in the woods near his home, killed by a single stab wound to the chest from his own knife.

Felix Olliphant was found stabbed to death at a New Year's Eve costume party for the turn of the millennium. Seemingly liked by everyone, motives for his murder are hard to find. There was one suspect, but no evidence. Hillary struggles to solve this baffling case. And she has to contend with a new colleague, Jake Barnes. Young and rich, he says he wants to give something back to the community, but Hillary has her doubts. Will Hillary finally be defeated by this cold case and will she lose her boss and love interest to a new job?