The village of Mere Barton would be a different place without local busybody Annie Roberts. Standing only five feet tall, the tireless retired nurse organizes and oversees all local activity with military precision. When Sheila Malory gets roped into Annie?s latest project, a compilation of the village?s history, she has a feeling it will lead to trouble. But the project is cut short when Annie is found dead from a nasty case of mushroom poisoning?and Mrs. Malory seems to be the only one who finds the death suspicious. Because of her nosy nature, Annie had discovered some dark secrets about her fellow villagers. Secrets someone might kill to keep quiet.

When Sheila Malory fills in for a friend at a local charity shop in the quiet English town of Taviscombe, she’s happy for the change of scene. It will give her a chance to deal with interesting books, meet new people, and above all, work for a good cause! Still, not everything at the shop is so appealing. The ill-tempered, officious store supervisor, Desmond Barlow, runs the shop as a tyrant. That is, until Desmond is found stabbed to death in the shop, and Mrs. Malory puts her impeccable sleuthing skills into play. Unfortunately, it seems that Desmond was disliked by pretty much everyone. In a town full of suspects, Mrs. Malory must go behind closed doors and delve into a slew of small-town secrets if she wants to discover a killer who is far from charitable…

Arson and murder in the English countryside from the author of Mrs. Malory and a Necessary End . . .   In the wake of a reporter’s death, biographer Sheila Malory must dig through the remnants of his life to discover the devil in the details . . .   Sheila’s friend, larger-than-life Eva Jackson, has returned to the village of Taviscombe after losing her husband, Alan. A foreign correspondent, Alan reported on dangerous stories around the world from Libya to Afghanistan—but the cause of his death was more mundane: kidney failure in a London hospital. Still, he led a storied life, and much of his past lies in his writings, papers, and books now boxed away in Eva’s garage.   After Eva decides to compile a book of Alan’s unpublished works, a fire mysteriously breaks out in the garage. Then Eva meets a suspicious end, leading Sheila to wonder if there’s a killer at large in their charming Devon countryside . . .

Sheila Malory’s old friends Charlie and Jo Hamilton run a popular riding school in the quiet English town of Taviscombe. When Charlie is found dead in his stables from a blow to the head—with only his horses as witnesses to his final moments—the entire community is shaken. Especially since Charlie’s is just the first in a series of shocking and suspicious deaths. Always ready with a cup of tea and an ear to the latest gossip, Mrs. Malory finds herself back in the saddle trying to solve another mystery. But the trail of clues, from an unlucky horseshoe to a lethal electric fence, proves to be anything but a smooth ride.

‘Barbara Pym is one of my most favourite novelists. Few other writers have given me more laughter and more pleasure.' Jilly Cooper‘Could one write a book based on one’s diaries over thirty years? I certainly have enough material,’ wrote Barbara Pym. This book, selected from the diaries, notebooks and letters of this much loved novelist to form a continuous narrative, is indeed a unique autobiography, providing a privileged insight into a writer’s mind.Philip Larkin wrote that Barbara Pym had ‘a unique eye and ear for the small poignancies of everyday life’. Her autobiography amply demonstrates this, as it traces her life from exuberant times at Oxford in the thirties, through the war when, scarred by an unhappy love affair, she joined the WRNS, to the published novelist of the fifties. It also deals with the long period when her novels were out of fashion and no one would publish them, her rediscovering in 1977, and the triumphant success of her last few years.It is now possible to describe a place, situation or person as ‘very Barbara Pym’. A Very Private Eye, at once funny and moving, shows the variety and depth of her own story.

The village of Mere Barton would be a different place without local busybody Annie Roberts. Standing only five feet tall, the tireless retired nurse organizes and oversees all local activity with military precision. When Sheila Malory gets roped into Annie?s latest project, a compilation of the village?s history, she has a feeling it will lead to trouble. But the project is cut short when Annie is found dead from a nasty case of mushroom poisoning?and Mrs. Malory seems to be the only one who finds the death suspicious. Because of her nosy nature, Annie had discovered some dark secrets about her fellow villagers. Secrets someone might kill to keep quiet.

When Sheila Malory fills in for a friend at a local charity shop in the quiet English town of Taviscombe, she’s happy for the change of scene. It will give her a chance to deal with interesting books, meet new people, and above all, work for a good cause! Still, not everything at the shop is so appealing. The ill-tempered, officious store supervisor, Desmond Barlow, runs the shop as a tyrant. That is, until Desmond is found stabbed to death in the shop, and Mrs. Malory puts her impeccable sleuthing skills into play. Unfortunately, it seems that Desmond was disliked by pretty much everyone. In a town full of suspects, Mrs. Malory must go behind closed doors and delve into a slew of small-town secrets if she wants to discover a killer who is far from charitable…

Arson and murder in the English countryside from the author of Mrs. Malory and a Necessary End . . .   In the wake of a reporter’s death, biographer Sheila Malory must dig through the remnants of his life to discover the devil in the details . . .   Sheila’s friend, larger-than-life Eva Jackson, has returned to the village of Taviscombe after losing her husband, Alan. A foreign correspondent, Alan reported on dangerous stories around the world from Libya to Afghanistan—but the cause of his death was more mundane: kidney failure in a London hospital. Still, he led a storied life, and much of his past lies in his writings, papers, and books now boxed away in Eva’s garage.   After Eva decides to compile a book of Alan’s unpublished works, a fire mysteriously breaks out in the garage. Then Eva meets a suspicious end, leading Sheila to wonder if there’s a killer at large in their charming Devon countryside . . .

Sheila Malory’s old friends Charlie and Jo Hamilton run a popular riding school in the quiet English town of Taviscombe. When Charlie is found dead in his stables from a blow to the head—with only his horses as witnesses to his final moments—the entire community is shaken. Especially since Charlie’s is just the first in a series of shocking and suspicious deaths. Always ready with a cup of tea and an ear to the latest gossip, Mrs. Malory finds herself back in the saddle trying to solve another mystery. But the trail of clues, from an unlucky horseshoe to a lethal electric fence, proves to be anything but a smooth ride.

‘Barbara Pym is one of my most favourite novelists. Few other writers have given me more laughter and more pleasure.' Jilly Cooper‘Could one write a book based on one’s diaries over thirty years? I certainly have enough material,’ wrote Barbara Pym. This book, selected from the diaries, notebooks and letters of this much loved novelist to form a continuous narrative, is indeed a unique autobiography, providing a privileged insight into a writer’s mind.Philip Larkin wrote that Barbara Pym had ‘a unique eye and ear for the small poignancies of everyday life’. Her autobiography amply demonstrates this, as it traces her life from exuberant times at Oxford in the thirties, through the war when, scarred by an unhappy love affair, she joined the WRNS, to the published novelist of the fifties. It also deals with the long period when her novels were out of fashion and no one would publish them, her rediscovering in 1977, and the triumphant success of her last few years.It is now possible to describe a place, situation or person as ‘very Barbara Pym’. A Very Private Eye, at once funny and moving, shows the variety and depth of her own story.