Product Description

WHO MOURNS THE FORGOTTEN DEPARTED?

The last of the Greshams has died in the quaint Cotswolds village of Bamford. But the dowagers interment unearths something shocking in the Gresham family plot: the remains of a pregnant teenager who disappeared twelve years earlier. . .a runaway whom nobody dreamed was dead.

The discovery has put Superintendent Alan Markbys planned vacation with his friend Meredith Mitchell on hold--as they follow a very cold trail that could lead all the way to the British Parliament. For the years have not diminished the heinousness of this crime. And they cannot rest until they know who left a black candle burning on the All Saints parish altar more than a decade ago. . .and who consigned an unfortunate young woman to the eternal darkness of anothers grave.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1012566 in Books
• Published on: 1997-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 275 pages

From Kirkus Reviews
It's the eighth chaotic case for the recently promoted Superintendent Alan Markby (Flowers for His Funeral, 1995, etc.), now back in Bamford and close to longtime girlfriend/amateur sleuth Meredith Mitchell, of the Foreign Service. Markby is immediately confronted with an old murder, uncovered when gravediggers Densil and Gordon Lowe, in the process of readying a grave, unearth the remains of a young woman. The body is soon identified as that of Kimberley Oates, who disappeared 12 years ago and, according to the autopsy, was four months pregnant. Kimberley, the illegitimate daughter of long-gone Susan Oates, lived with her grandmother and worked for a caterer, waitressing in some of the town's richer houses, like that of Margaret and the late Richard Holden, whose son Lars had an affair with the promiscuous Kimberley. Now a stuffy politician, Lars and his arrogant fianc‚e are petrified at the thought of the tabloids picking up the story. As Alan and Meredith peek and prod, others in town are unhappy, too, including aged ex- gravedigger Kat Dullen, still seething at being replaced by the Lowe brothers; butcher Derek Archibald, with his soft-porn magazines and ailing wife; and Major Walcott, a neighbor and close friend of the Holdens. There are other suspects as well, but not until the body of Densil Lowe is found hanging from the rafter of a storage shed does the light begin to dawn, just in time to save Meredith from becoming one more victim of a case of bygone passions. With its oversupply of red herrings, quirky village characters, chirpy conversations over cups of tea, the pace is soporific and the solution from left field. Strictly for the most ardent, and patient, fans of the British traditional. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Like her heroine, Ann Granger has worked in the diplomatic service in various parts of the world. She met her husband, who was also working in the British Embassy, in Prague and together they received postings to places as far apart as Munich and Lusaka. They are now permanently based in Bicester, near Oxford.

Customer Reviews

Candle for a Corpse by Ann Granger
I have read eight of the Markby/Mitchell series. I would place this one in the top three. The suspenseful plot builds at a wonderful pace and the full mystery is not solved until the last page. This series is glorious either in book form or in audio when the magnificent Judith Bond reads. Granger's books place you square in the middle of an English village and you don't leave it until the final pages.

Good English Village Mystery!
Ann Granger is one of the best modern English village mystery writers out there as far as I'm concerned. I love the Mitchell and Markby series. There are plenty of spills and chills, and many surprises along the way. In this book a skeleton of a young pregnant girl is found buried in a very old grave. Markby feels haunted by this corpse and feels he must do his best for this young girl since she'd been laying forgotten for 12 years. Of course Meredith has to help because she knows how much this case means to Alan. They uncover some old village secrets that have lain undisturbed for many years. And a lot of people that want to keep the past buried at any cost. There are lots of wonderful characters in this book. I particularly like the old grave digger Nat Bullen. I am really enjoying this very entertaining series!

A completely winsome and capitaving book;worthy of your time
This was my first (but definitely not my last) experience with Meredith and Markby. I completely enjoyed this story, and my only complaint was that the style was so easy to read I was through the book long before I was ready for it to end. I felt like a child following a trail of jelly beans as the clues and red herrings turned up. Just an awfully lot of fun with a couple of sharp plot turns in the end that sends you into worlds of thought and conjecture when you lay the book down finished. I highly recommend it.