MURDER IN THE ORCHARD: Book 6

A beautiful house nestles in an orchard, where a blackbird sings at dawn each morning from a branch laden with rosy fruit - but underneath the trees a body lies too still to be asleep. Melissa Craig is struggling with her new novel, so when the invitation arrives to visit a nearby country house for some writing time, she decides a bit of peace and quiet is just the ticket. The house is everything she could have hoped for, even if the staff do seem rather unsettled. She has barely unpacked when the owner of the house persuades Melissa to investigate some threatening notes he has received, but before she can do any digging, he is found murdered in his own orchard. Melissa realises that the dead man was universally disliked - controlling, tight with money, nasty and he has certainly made some enemies - but who could have hated him enough to resort to murder? His seemingly timid wife, the secretary with whom he previously had an affair, or perhaps the gardener with an old secret was the murderer? With the police looking for an outsider, Melissa is sure the murderer is close at hand. But can she prove it before they strike again? 170pp, paperback.