MURDER ON A COUNTRY WALK a totally gripping British crime thriller full of twists (Warwick & Bell Crime Mysteries Book 4) by JANICE FROST

Author:JANICE FROST [FROST, JANICE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller, mystery and suspense
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jane was in a wine and gin bar in Lincoln’s Cultural Quarter with Ed and a group of friends, most of them from her book group. They had just come from the museum, where they’d been listening to a talk by a well-known author whose most recent book they had discussed in group.

As the talk had lasted just over an hour and a half, including standing in the queue to buy a signed copy of the author’s latest work, they’d reconvened in the bar. It seemed a pity to end their evening so soon. Especially as they’d all made the effort to turn out on a wet and windy November night.

They had been joined by Jane’s daughter, Norah, and by Thea Martin. Rumour had it that Thea’s new boyfriend might show up. Jane had been dying to meet him ever since Norah had told her that Thea was seeing someone.

“Addae!” Thea stood up and waved her hand at a young man who had just walked into the bar. All heads turned.

“Everyone, this is Addae,” Thea said.

Jane had seldom seen Thea look so radiantly happy. Addae was warmly welcomed by the group. The introductions took some time, for the core membership — Jane, Allie, Ed, Jan Mazurek and his partner, Yvonne Howard, Frieda and Karun Arya — had been swollen by the addition of Merlin Kendrick and Giles Brimble, retirees who divided their time between busking and playing in a folk band. Jane had become acquainted with them over a year ago when she was looking into the disappearance of a young boy.

Jane wanted to learn all about Addae, but she’d determined with her own children not to turn into her mother and interrogate their partners as soon as she met them, much as it killed her not to do so. Her mother’s intrusive questions of Jane’s late husband, Sam, had all but sent him fleeing from her house.

“So, I should tell you that Jane’s a special police constable,” Thea said to Addae.

Addae nodded. “What’s that exactly? Special police constables aren’t the same as community police officers, are they? Aren’t they volunteers?”

“That’s right,” Jane said. “Basically, I have all the same powers as a police constable. I carry the same equipment, but I’m a volunteer.” She couldn’t help noting Addae’s frown. Had he been in trouble with the police?

“I’ve probably been stopped and searched by an SC, then,” he said.

Thea added, “Because he’s Black. It’s a disgrace.”

No one disagreed. Heads nodded around the table. Addae simply gave a shrug. “Happens all the time.”

“It’s happened to me too,” Karun said. “When we lived in London.”

“That’s not what I signed up for,” Jane said.

Thea slipped an arm around Addae’s waist. She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time in Doveby, Jane,” Allie whispered to her while the others were engaged in a lively discussion about the visiting author’s oeuvre.

Jane rolled her eyes. Allie had been delighted when Jane started seeing Ed. She’d considered him a perfect match for her long before Jane had.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.