Search results for ""Author Hannah Dennison""

'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. BeatonSpring is in the air ... and so, too, is the sound of music as the residents of Honeychurch Hall are stunned to learn that the Dowager Countess Lady Edith Honeychurch has agreed to the staging of a production of The Merry Widow in the dilapidated grand ballroom.Fears that the fiercely private octogenarian must be going senile are soon dismissed when our heroine, Kat Stanford, learns that the favour is a result of a desperate request from Countess Olga Golodkin. As one of Edith's oldest friends Olga is the director of the amateur Devon Operatic Dramatic Organization. Just a week before, D.O.D.O's original venue was destroyed in a mysterious fire but since tickets have been sold, costumes made and lucrative local sponsorships secured, Olga is determined that the show must go on. After decades at the helm of D.O.D.O., The Merry Widow will be Olga's swansong and she wants to go out with a bang . . .Praise for Hannah Dennison:'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend'A fun read' Carola Dunn'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan

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In this delightful new mystery our heroine Kat Stanford stumbles upon a hidden room in an abandoned wing at Honeychurch Hall.However, Kat's initial excitement soon ends in horror. There, lying on the cold, stone floor, Kat comes across the body of a young woman dressed in an Egyptian toga and wearing a tawdry fairground trinket around her broken neck. Suspicion falls on some of those who live at the Hall - both upstairs and down - and even those who are just had been passing through. Matters come to a head as a killer lurks amid the aristocracy . . . Downton Abbey fans will want more Killer Balls at Honeychurch Hall.Praise for Hannah Dennison:The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch. (Rhys Bowen)Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory. (Catriona McPherson)A fun read (Carola Dunn)Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon. (Elizabeth Duncan)

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Vicky will do anything to get off the obituary circuit and on to the front page!If there's one thing Vicky has learnt as an obituary writer, it's how to spot something fishy at a funeral - and plenty is amiss at the service for Gordon Berry. The man was a champion hedge cutter so why are people willing to believe he electrocuted himself by striking a power line with his own clippers?At the reception there are rumblings of foul play - not to mention a fistfight between a mourner and the local Lothario. And in her quest for a scoop, Vicky will find she has to confront everything - from bad dates to mortal danger...'A dizzy romp with an endearingly gullible investigator' Ann Purse'Dennison delivers a novel that both Monty Python and Miss Marple would approve of' Fresh Fiction'A laugh a page ... a hilarious debut' Carolyn Hart on A Vicky Hill Exclusive!

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'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. BeatonAll's fair in love . . . and antiques wars!Things are going well for Kat Stanford; not only is her antiques business thriving, she's also got a new date: Piers Carew, Viscount Chawley, who owns the estate next to Honeychurch Hall. Unfortunately, Kate has a rival. Impossibly beautiful Cassandra Bowden-Forbes is also in town, conducting valuations at the same fairs as Kat - and she makes no secret of the fact she's got her eye on Piers . . .And then things start to go wrong: Kat finds herself at the scene of not one but two mysterious deaths, and local tongues are wagging - is it coincidence, or murder? As Kat's fortunes nosedive it becomes clear that unless she can solve these unexplained deaths then she may just be the victim of the next accident . . .Praise for Hannah Dennison'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson'A fun read' Carola Dunn'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan

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'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. BeatonMistletoe and murder at Honeychurch Hall...It's ten days before Christmas at Honeychurch Hall and Kat Stanford has persuaded the Earl of Grenville to open the Museum Room to the villagers in an effort to raise money for rooftop repairs. For the price of a ticket visitors will be able to view an unusual display of antiques - including the legendary Bleeding Hawk of Honeychurch Hall.When an obnoxious young couple drive 200 miles from London to view the treasures it's not just Kate who is suspicious of their intentions; Mr Chips, the estate's feisty Jack Russell makes his feelings plain by taking a bite out of the man's trousers.But then a suit of armour inexplicably falls on the ancient butler, killing him, and when a second body is found near a quarry nearby Kat becomes entangled in a world of feuds and jealousies, finally encountering a cold-blooded killer who will stop at nothing to keep the past at bay.Praise for Hannah Dennison'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson'A fun read' Carola Dunn'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan

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'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M.C. BeatonHistory has a habit of repeating itself...When the only copy of Iris Stanford's new manuscript fails to arrive at her publisher's, her daughter Kat tracks the package pack to the tiny local post office, leaving Iris terrified that Muriel Jarvis, the local postmistress and notorious busybody, will expose her secret identity as international bestselling romance author Krystalle Storm.But Muriel has problems of her own. The sudden death of her husband has not only left her heavily in debt but facing the possibility that Lord Rupert Honeychurch will evict her from the cottage her family has lived in for generations. Desperate for money, Muriel recklessly embarks on a disastrous course of action - with fatal consequences.As tales of bizarre thefts, blackmail and infidelity abound, Kat's loyalties are challenged on every front - and then the ancient remains of a civil war victim turn up, reigniting old rivalries...Praise for Hannah Dennison: 'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson

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If the stones of the house could talk…When Kat Stanford abandons a successful television career to help her mother Iris move into a rustic carriage house in Devon, she quickly discovers that behind the well-trimmed hedgerows, Honeychurch Hall is populated by more eccentrics than Kat had ever met in all her time in London.The Dowager Countess, Lord and Lady Honeychurch, their precocious seven-year-old heir, his missing nanny, a brooding stable manager, a housekeeper with an extensive designer shoe collection… Everyone seems to harbour a secret -- and Kat’s mother may be hiding the darkest of them all…

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'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. BeatonFollowing the butler's death and the cook's retirement, the ever-gullible Lady Lavinia replaces them with a power couple who are determined to thrust the crumbling estate into the 21st century. The Dowager Countess reluctantly agrees to hold a big-ticket Christmas gala and silent auction with a mystery celebrity flying in from Monaco as the guest of honour.Needless to say the newcomers' make a few enemies in their quest to change the status quo and when one body is discovered in the Victorian stumpery and a second, in the ha-ha, it seems that their high-flying past is catching up with them. Meanwhile, Kat is dealing with the theft of a valuable doll that had been earmarked for the auction. When it turns out that all the ticket money has vanished and there never was a celebrity guest, it's up to Kat to save the day and bring the cold-blooded killer to justice.Praise for Hannah Dennison:'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend'A fun read' Carola Dunn'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan

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'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. BeatonIs it a question of turn the other cheek... or an eye for an eye?At last St Mary's church is going to have its own vicar! Not only that, the gorgeous Reverend Pritchard is sixty, single... and in need of a wife.But when he spearheads a campaign to restore a derelict chapel - rumoured to be haunted by a German Luftwaffe pilot- in a far-flung corner of the Honeychurch estate, the Dowager Countess puts her foot down. But nobody quite understands why... Meanwhile, a fierce bidding war at an auction of military memorabilia ends in Kat's female adversary being murdered and Kat being held as the prime suspect. And then it turns out that several of the auctioned items are connected to Operation Tiger, a doomed rehearsal for the D-Day landings that took place in nearby Slapton Sands all those years ago. And Kat begins to realise that the vicar, the Luftwaffe ghost and all the World War II weaponry may all somehow be related...Praise for Hannah Dennison:'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend'A fun read' Carola Dunn'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan

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'Just the thing to chase the blues away' M. C. BeatonWhen a body found on the Honeychurch Hall estate proves to be that of a villager who had supposedly moved to Ireland years earlier, tongues start wagging and theories abound. Charlie Green had always been a rogue.Although Charlie's demise happened well before Kat's arrival, Kat is drawn into the mystery when she finds two rare miniature portraits hidden inside a custom-made dollhouse of Honeychurch Hall. And then Charlie's aunt suffers a mysterious fatal fall and suspicion lands on a stranger who is holidaying in the newly installed shepherd's hut in the walled garden -- one of Lady Lavinia's latest hare-brained moneymaking schemes. Although there is something off about the tourist, Kat believes the culprit is fellow antique dealer.With tales of blackmail, infidelity and greed gripping the small community, past and present collide and Kat realises that the miniatures harbour a vital secret that one particular person is willing to kill for.Praise for Hannah Dennison:'The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch' Rhys Bowen'Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory' Catriona McPherson'Will delight fans and new readers alike' People's Friend'A fun read' Carola Dunn'Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon' Elizabeth Duncan

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When the body of a transport minister is discovered in the grounds on the Honeychurch Hall estate, suspicion as to his unusual demise naturally falls on the residents. After all, who could possibly want a high-speed train line and rolling stock depot built in their front yard?News of the murder soon reaches local resident Kat Stanford's nemesis Trudy Wynne. A ruthless tabloid journalist and the ex-wife of Kat's discarded lover, Trudy is out for revenge. She is also interested in exposing -and humiliating-Kat's mother Iris, who is secretly the international bestselling romance writer Krystalle Storm. As the body count begins to build, Kat becomes inextricably embroiled in the ensuing scandal. Is the minister's death the result of a local vendetta, or could it be connected to her mother's unusual past?Praise for Hannah Dennison:The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch. (Rhys Bowen)Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today's grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory. (Catriona McPherson)A fun read (Carola Dunn)Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon. (Elizabeth Duncan)

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When an early morning call wakes Vicky from the arms of her dream man, reality had better be worth it - and it is. A tipster tells her about the secret funeral of local celebrity Scarlett Flemming, organised by her grieving husband Doug. The entire town is baffled by the sudden death and oddly discreet funeral. After all, in life Scarlett had hardly been a shrinking violet.Vicky's suspicions are heightened when she learns of the Flemmings' shaky finances - and that Doug has as many admirers as Scarlett had enemies. And while canvassing suspects and juggling three potential suitors, Vicky must stay one step ahead of a killer once she realises she's no longer writing an obituary - she's writing an expose!'A dizzy romp with an endearingly gullible investigator' - Ann Purse'A laugh a page ... a hilarious debut' - Carolyn Hart on A Vicky Hill Exclusive!

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