Showing results by author "Faith Martin" in All Categories

In a backstreet club, people dance the night away to their favourite band. But behind the scenes there is trouble afoot. An argument is brewing between bandmembers, two possessive girlfriends have plans for their partners the club manager is creaming off profits—and a tragic accident leaves the lead singer dead. But was it an accident at all? Coroner Clement Ryder is suspicious, and WPC Trudy Loveday knows there’s only one thing for it. She’s going undercover, deep into the seedy underbelly of Oxford nightlife.

New Year’s Eve, 1962. As a snowstorm rages outside, Oxford high society gathers to ring in the new year at the city’s most exclusive party. This is a soiree no one will forget...not least because a guest is found dead in his car the next morning. It seems the young man tragically froze to death overnight after crashing into a snowdrift—but when WPC Trudy Loveday and coroner Clement Ryder are called in to investigate, they discover a tangled web of secrets that plainly point to murder.

Hillary Greene returns to Thames Valley Police HQ, acting as a consultant for the Crime Review Team, looking into murders which the police have never been able to solve. She wasn't sure she wanted to go back. But solving crimes is irresistible for Hillary Greene. And it doesn't hurt that her new boss is devastatingly handsome. Twenty years ago, mother-of-three Anna McRae was found beaten to death in her kitchen with a rolling pin. She'd been having an affair with her brother-in-law, so the prime suspect was Anna's sister Debbie. But the evidence never added up.

Meet Jenny Starling: travelling cook and reluctant amateur detective. Jenny Starling is catering the 21st birthday party of upper-class twins Alicia and Justin. She arrives at their parents' country house and is immediately met by the police. A young man has drowned in the pond. Was it an accident or murder? But the birthday party goes ahead. Then, just after midnight, everyone gathers for a champagne toast...and one of the guests falls down dead. The police are baffled, and there is a whole party full of suspects.

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? Hillary has returned to work after the slaying of her boss and is desperate to track down his murderer. His pregnant widow is even more determined to get revenge, but will she go too far?

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.

A pretty French student is found dead in her room at an exclusive Oxford college. Everyone thinks it is another tragic case of accidental drug overdose. But Detective Hillary Greene has a nose for the truth. She quickly discovers that the student was involved in some very unusual activities. With a shocking cause of death found, the case becomes a high-profile murder investigation. Adding to the pressure, Hillary’s nemesis is transferred to work with her at the station.

A family day out at Briar’s Hall ends in tragedy when a young boy goes missing - and his body is found at the bottom of a disused well in the orchard. It looks like a simple case of an 11-year-old exploring where he shouldn’t: a tragic accident. But Coroner Clement Ryder and Probationary WPC Trudy Loveday aren’t convinced. If Eddie had been climbing and fallen, why were there no cuts or dirt on his hands? Why would a boy terrified of heights be around a well at all?

As the Hughes family celebrates bonfire night, a terrible accident leaves the garden shed in flames - and father and grandfather Thomas trapped inside. Tragic though it is, Thomas’ death passes without suspicion - until a local journalist makes accusations of a police cover-up in the press. WPC Trudy Loveday is sent to investigate and asks Coroner Clement Ryder to help.

Ten years ago, Rowan Thompson was found stabbed to death with a pair of scissors in his student house. It turns out that Rowan was quite a lover, with many disgruntled partners left in his wake. But did any of them have a strong enough motive to murder him?

Meet DI HILLARY GREENE, a policewoman struggling to save her career and catch criminals. David Merchant's body is found in a bonfire in his back garden. David was a publisher and devout Christian. Who would want to kill this seemingly very decent man? DI Hillary Greene faces one of her most puzzling cases as she struggles to find anyone with a strong motive to kill the pious publisher. Then, as Hillary unearths greedy business partners and an estranged son, her focus is diverted when a new team member is targeted by a vicious gang.

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.

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.

Former Detective Hillary Greene and her cold case team are handed an impossible case. Thirty years ago, two days before Christmas, the much-loved Reverend Keith Coltrane was hit over the head and left to die inside his own church. The killer was never caught. This shocking crime took place in the pretty Oxfordshire village of Lower Barton. Everyone knows everyone else in this peaceful little community. The young reverend was handsome and popular, especially with the ladies of the village. Who would have wanted to harm him?

Seventy-five-year-old Sylvia Perkins was found battered to death in her home in 2010. The murder weapon was suspected to be a fire poker and it seems she was quite popular with older gentlemen. Her grandson Robbie inherited everything, but he can't be placed at the scene of the crime. Who killed this harmless old woman and why? And what secrets was she hiding?

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 revellers, 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 has clearly been strangled. But not everything is what it seems, and the victim turns out to be at the centre of a web of jealousy and intrigue in the close-knit village.

Former Detective Hillary Greene and her cold case team are taking a fresh look at the unsolved murder of Michael Beck, found bludgeoned over the head and dead in a river near his home in 2012. Just twenty-two at the time, he'd recently finished a history degree and had his whole life ahead of him. Everyone said he was a pleasant sort of lad with a passion for the past, quietly living with his parents until he could afford a place of his own. But it quickly turned out that there were at least two people who might have wanted him dead.

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.

She served her time, now she wants to find the real killer. Oriana Foster spent thirteen years in prison for a murder she didn’t commit. Now she’s out and returns to her home village in Oxfordshire. She has one goal: to find the real killer of Rollo Seton. While inside, a mysterious benefactor has put £2 million in trust for her. She uses the money to buy the Manor House in Nether Dene, the tiny village she grew up in. The village doesn’t want her back. She hires Connor O’Dell, a good-looking bodyguard. He’s there in case things get rough.

American heiress Laurel Van Gilder has arrived in Oxford to present a prestigious award. Laurel rents a bicycle and crashes into a car belonging to Professor Gideon Welles. Knocked unconscious, she is taken to hospital and wakes the next day, Gideon having stayed by her side all night. Bickering and sniping at each other over whose fault it was, they are relieved to see the back of each other, but there is a spark Laurel can’t ignore.