Midway between old-world detective story and a police procedural, That Way Murder Lies is about average. The police in this book is Alan Markby, a dour man who hates people at random without any reason. His fiancee, Meredith Mitchell works in a consulate. Her friend from the consulate is Toby Smy...
A 22-year-old brutal serial rape case was unresolved in the Cotswold village of Lower Stovey. Alan Markby investigated at the time and was disappointed not to end up with a conviction. But 22 years on he, now Detective Superintendent Alan Markby, and his girlfriend Meredith Mitchell were looking ...
This seventh in the series featuring Francesca Varady reflects back on her previous homeless existence as she meets up with an older lady that had also been homeless then. Edna has been taking into a charity home, but still spends most of her time roaming the streets and interacting with the cats...
In Murder Among Us, Ann Granger presents Bamford as a typical English village, but one on the verge of losing both its history and its social cohesion. As might be expected, different people react in different ways. Detective Chief Inspector Markby is dismayed that the village is expanding, that ...
Originally published on my blog here in January 2002.In this Fran Varady novel, it is not (for once) the fault of her curiosity that she is caught up in a murder mystery. She is suddenly contacted by a private detective, who has traced her for Fran's mother. She had left Fran's father when Fran w...
Fran Varady is one of the more unusual amateur sleuths I've come across. A would-be actress living mostly on the dole in London, both her hair and personality are spiky. Her friend Ganesh tries his best to keep her out of trouble, but seldom succeeds. In this, the second in the all-too-short seri...
Originally published on my blog here in August 1999.After six or seven Mitchell and Markby novels, Ann Granger has written a detective novel outside the series, almost completely different in tone and background. Her central character, Fran Varady, is about to be thrown out of the condemned build...