Penny Stephens

REVEREND CLARE BRAKESPEAR RETURNS IN THIS CHARMING AND DELIGHTFULLY COSY CRIME NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF TILL DEATH US DO PART.THE PERFECT RETREAT IS ABOUT TO GET DEADLY . . .When Reverend Clare Brakespear is invited to lead the Morva Hotel''s annual ''Refresh and Renew'' retreat, she''s excited about the change of scene. A weeklong trip to Cornwall promises quiet reflection, sea air and a chance to unwind.The last thing Clare expects is to find herself in the middle of unfinished business. As the guests arrive, tensions rise and old wounds reopen. Everyone''s harbouring a secret and one of them may be the key to solving a year-long missing person case. As suspicions rise and old evidence comes to light, Clare must team up once again with the prickly DCI Jackie Carter to uncover the truth - before the retreat turns deadly. Praise for Till Death Us Do Part ''A new star in the crime-writing firmament'' Elly Griffiths ''Take a pew for murder most reverend! Deliciously twisty . . . a cosy crime treat'' Janice Hallett ''What a cracking read!'' J. M. Hall ''Brilliantly fun . . . I was totally captivated'' Laura Marshall ''Gripping . . . Rev. Penny Stephens'' writing and storytelling is sublime'' Graham Barlett

'A new star in the crime-writing firmament' Elly GriffthsThe charming and delightfully cosy debut crime novel from Reverend Penny Stephens. Weddings can be murder . . . Reverend Clare Brakespear is used to a challenge. With a young family to wrangle, a parish to manage and a particularly excitable Golden Retriever by her side, life is never dull. But when she attends a wedding where one of the guests is fatally stabbed with a cake knife, even Clare admits that she might have been given too much to handle this time. As the police investigate the murder, they zero-in on one woman as their prime suspect, who they believe had the motive, means and opportunity to commit the crime. The trouble is, Clare is convinced that they have the wrong person. She might not understand forensic testing and finger-tip searches, but if there's one thing Clare does know, it's people and the complexities of their emotional lives. So she decides to take matters into her own hands. However, investigating a murder is no mean feat and Clare soon finds herself embroiled in a complex web of family secrets and deceptions. Is she in way over her head or can she find the real killer before an innocent woman is sent down?

''A new star in the crime-writing firmament'' Elly GriffthsThe charming and delightfully cosy debut crime novel from Reverend Penny Stephens.Weddings can be murder . . .Reverend Clare Brakespear is used to a challenge. With a young family to wrangle, a parish to manage and a particularly excitable Golden Retriever by her side, life is never dull. But when she attends a wedding where one of the guests is fatally stabbed with a cake knife, even Clare admits that she might have been given too much to handle this time.As the police investigate the murder, they zero-in on one woman as their prime suspect, who they believe had the motive, means and opportunity to commit the crime. The trouble is, Clare is convinced that they have the wrong person. She might not understand forensic testing and finger-tip searches, but if there''s one thing Clare does know, it''s people and the complexities of their emotional lives. So she decides to take matters into her own hands. However, investigating a murder is no mean feat and Clare soon finds herself embroiled in a complex web of family secrets and deceptions. Is she in way over her head or can she find the real killer before an innocent woman is sent down?