The Village Detectives and The Art of Murder by Fiona Walker

As her mother is about to sell the family home and move in to a retirement village, Juno Mulligan is returning to the village of Inkbury to help out.  Juno has asked her son Eric to look into the background of Dennis, her mum's gentleman friend.  The result is that he has had three previous wives and they have all died in suspicious circumstances.  Juno is convinced that her mum could be in danger.   

Old College friend Phoebe Fredericks, who writes murder novels under the name of Dorothy De'Ath, is also living in Inkbury and Juno ropes her in to help her look for a house to buy.  Phoebe is a bit of a hermit and keeps to herself and so doesn't really know very many people within the village or what may be available.  When they meet up in the local pub for lunch there is an argument between a couple of the other guests and one of them ends up dead. 

Juno, Phoebe and Mil, the landlord at the pub, team up together to find out who killed Si and why.  Juno is convinced that it will be Dennis.  

The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer

Gary Thorn sees that he has a meeting scheduled with a new client, Mr Sequence.  When they meet Mr Sequence offers Gary money to disappear and not attend the court trial which is due to start the next week.  Gary refuses.  His girlfriend Emily has moved to Brighton to take over the hotel where she grew up as it has been left to her by her father.  The hotel needs updating before it can be re-opened.  She changes its name to The Hotel Avocado as her father hated avocados.  

Gary has to disappear for a while as he, his friends and family are now being threatened.  His closest friend is Grace who lives next door with her dog Lassoo.  Together they eat a lot of pies.  Gary does not want Grace to be harmed and so pretends they are not friends to try to keep her safe.  He heads off to Brighton to stay with Emily but is followed.  

A Date with Justice by Julia Chapman

This is the ninth book in the Dales Detective Agency series. 

During a wedding reception Delilah's brother Will has a very heated argument with Ross Erwin, an Ecologist who is preparing a report on his neighbours farm.  The farmers want to diversify and open a glamping site.  The next morning Ross Erwin is found dead.  Will seems to be the most likely suspect.  

Samson returns to Bruncliffe for a break from his duties in London with the Met.  Together with Delilah they take on Will's case as they both believe he is innocent.  The Dales Detective Agency is growing in size as Delilah has offered some work, and a roof over his head, to Gareth the local gamekeeper who has lost both his job and home as he can no longer hold a gun licence.  They look through hours of wedding footage taken on guests' phones to work out who left the reception and when, and who could be a possible murderer. 

Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves

This is a Vera Stanhope story.  

When Julie Armstrong arrives home after a night out she finds her teenage son lying dead in the bath.  He had been strangled and surrounded by flowers floating on the water.  

The body of a young student teacher is then found in a rock pool.  She also had been strangled and surrounded by flowers.  There has to be link between the two young people who have been murdered.  Inspector Vera Stanhope has to work out what the link is and why someone would want to murder these two seemingly unrelated people.  

A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

Whilst working as a waiter in a Berlin hotel, Maurice Swift meets Erich Ackerman.  Erich offers Maurice the opportunity to travel with him as his assistant as he goes on tour to promote his latest book.  Maurice is a budding writer himself.  Erich tells Maurice about his life as a teenage boy, about how Jewish people were treated and how he fell in love with another young man.  Maurice encourages the story telling and uses this to his own ends.  He is a good writer but lacks the inspiration to know what to write about.  

Years later when Maurice has made a name for himself and is married, he is again struggling for inspiration and tells his wife that he is writing during the day whilst she is at the local University lecturing.  He has already stolen stories from others and is about to do the same again.  

A Year at Castle Court by Holly Hepburn

Friends Sadie and Cat had always dreamed of opening up a biscuit shop together.  When Cat returns from working in a Michelin starred restaurant in France and Sadie's marriage is over they both need a new start and so take on the lease of a shop in Castle Court in Chester.  

Cat bakes the biscuits and Sadie decorates them.  Most of the other residents in the food area of Castle Court are helpful and friendly.  There are just a few who are not.  Over the first year they have a lot of ups and downs.  They make both friends and enemies within the Court.  

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Dr James Sheppard lives with his sister Caroline. Caroline always seems to know everything before he does, including who has died and how.    

Dr Sheppard receives a phone call telling him that Roger Ackroyd is dead.  He has only been with him a few hours beforehand and he had seemed to be ok.  When Dr Sheppard gets back to the house the room that Roger is in is locked from the inside and the key is still in the lock.  The door has to be forced to gain entry.  Once inside they find Roger has been stabbed and is dead.  The butler denied having made the phone call to the doctor.  The police are struggling to find the answers and so bring in Hercule Poirot as a consultant as he has recently moved in to the village.  He needs to work out how Roger was murdered within a locked a room and how the murderer escaped.  

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan

Grandmother Elspeth, daughter Jean and granddaughter Gertie all leave together in a small cottage on a remote Scottish island of Carso.  The woman are central to the local knitting circle.  

Gertie works in the local supermarket.  She has never left home or the island.  She is offered a job at the local airline which runs small planes from island to island.  She will work on the check-in desk whilst the usual check-in lady is off on maternity leave.  She has never been in an airplane and does not own a passport.  This will be a big move for Gertie if she accepts.  Before she has decided if she will take the job, the whole of the knitting circle are talking about it.  Gertie decides it is time to make a move and so looks for a place to rent and moves into a house with Morag who is the local pilot. Gertie makes new friends, takes on a new job and may even have met the man of her dreams.    

Death By Numbers by Jo Cunningham

Una is happy working with numbers and statistics as an actuary for an insurance company.  She comes across an anomaly around the predicted number of deaths in the seaside resort of Eastbourne.  Her mother has moved to Eastbourne and so Una goes to visit to try to get some additional insider knowledge.  The first strange death was being hit by a falling hanging basket.  This is not something Una has come across before.  

Una's mother and partner knew the people who had died, they were all in the same bingo group.  Una visits the site of the accidents and discovers that they all have numbers near to them.  The numbers are the same gold and black sticky panels that can be purchased from the local DIY store.  The numbers differ with each death.  She needs to work out what they mean and how they relate to the person.  As she gets closer to solving the mystery her own live could be in danger.  

Murder at the Rookery Grange Retreat by Gina Kirkham

Pru and Bree start their own investigation, along with members of their WI, when one of their own ladies has a suspicious accident.  Then one of the residents at The Rookery Grange Retreat is found dead and it looks like murder.  

Back in 1989 the couple who had owned Rookery Grange were found dead on Christmas Eve.  It looked to have been a murder-suicide.  Their children were there in the house but were unharmed.  An uncle had taken over the house which is now a residential home for the elderly.  

More bodies are found dead and they are not by natural causes.  One of their group books herself into the Rookery Grange Retreat to recuperate after a fall on ice.  She can keep an eye on their friend and see what is happening from the inside to help the investigation.  

Seven Days In Summer by Marcia Willett

Liv heads off to the family beach hut in Devon for a couple of weeks holiday with her twins and father in law.  Husband Matt stays at home to look after their restaurant as their manager has had an accident and is out of action.  

During the time Liv is away her cousin Catriona appears and tries to lure Matt away from Liv.  She always tries to make trouble. 

In Devon father in law Baz falls in love with Sofia who is staying locally with friends within Baz's social circle.  There is a huge age gap but it is love at first sight for them both.