Book excerpt: `A mischievously entertaining crime novel' SIMON BRETT The first instalment in The Falconer Files, Andrea Frazer's insanely gripping village detective series with a delightful slice of humour. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Lillian Jackson Braun and Midsomer Murders. READER'S CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF ANDREA'S QUIRKY CRIME NOVELS! ***** 'Probably one of the best mystery novels I have read. Such complex characters... and a lovely description of village life' Reader Review ***** 'Fantastic read. Nice and easy with interesting characters. So lifelike you could conjure up a picture of each member. Brilliant!' Reader Review ***** 'This is simply an excellent classic whodunnit in the same library as Agatha Christie or Lillian Jackson Braun!!' Reader Review ***** 'Brilliantly written kept me thinking who done it. Highly recommended. Will be reading more...' Reader Review ___________ In the village of Castle Farthing a mean-spirited, spiteful, curmudgeonly old man is found drugged and strangled in the kitchen of his cottage, with no obvious clues to the perpetrator of the crime. DI Falconer and Acting DS Carmichael are summoned from the police headquarters in the nearby town of Market Darley and begin to uncover a web of grudges against the old man and a sea of familial connections between those who knew him. As the heat of July continues relentlessly, tempers flare, disturbing the usual rural calm of the village, and the normally imperturbable Harry Falconer. Faced with a crime with no obvious prime suspect and the idiosyncrasies of his new partner, Carmichael, is he gradually losing his grip on the case as the body count rises?