Betty Rowlands (1924–2020)

This the first in a series originally published 1990-2004. Crime novelist Melissa Craig flees London, her agent and her over-protective lover, to take refuge in the Cotswolds and produce bestsellers in peace.

The bones of a young woman who had disappeared about two months earlier are found in the woods near Melissa's cottage and she joins with a young journalist to find out the truth behind the murder, on the pretext of researching things for her latest novel. Her journalist friend is full of ideas on how to involve Melissa more deeply in the investigation.

Her research takes her to a ladies daytime strip club, a beauty salon, and eventually to confront the murderer, although she doesn't realise until nearly too late who he is.

Whenever in doubt she thinks about what her sleuth in her books would do.

In the meantime another local is murdered, and Melissa makes friends with a vegetarian living next door.… (mais)

Melissa Craig,a successful crime novelist, is asked to finish the late Leonora Jewell her final book. Leonora died rather unexpectedly after a nasty fall in her cottage. As Melissa is trying to get as much information as she can in order to accomplish her task successfully, she encounters some discrepancies in different stories ,some things that do not match and all of a sudden poor Leonora's death is perhaps not so straightforward after all...
This is a blend between a cozy/cosy read and a typical English village murder. But it works,it doesn't sound too simplistic, the characters are not overly "vaudeville"and people do more than drink tea and have a chat with the vicar. 
And then,an English(Cotswolds I think) village in the winter is always a bit of a winner.… (mais)

Sukey Reynolds, a civil scene of crime photographer who is working for the police,is called to Bussell Manor to investigate a break in and the theft of several expensive pieces of art. Apparently burglaries in expensive,"arty "houses are a bit of an epidemic in the Cotswolds. The main suspect however seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth while his two partners in crime are found murdered. And then there is also the case of mistaken identity which puts Sukey's life in danger, This is a cross between a "cosy"and a classic mystery and it works up to a point. But then international criminal gangs,dark mafiosi style characters,hitmen.... make their appearance and it loses some of its charm and credibility (e.g. DI Jim Castle,Sukey's boyfriend freely discusses the case with Sukey(a civilian)in front of her son Fergus,there is somewhere a Miami Vice environment ...). It didn't feel right. I have another Sukey Reynolds book on my TBR list and perhaps there is a little bit less incongruence...… (mais)