Murder at the Summer Fete Read online

  Murder at the Summer Fete

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Also by Victoria Walters

  Copyright

  Cover

  Table of Contents

  Start of Content

  Murder at the Summer Fete

  Victoria Walters

  To Heidi Swain – thank you so much for your amazing support of The Dedley End Mysteries!

  Prologue

  Four days ago…

  Nancy Hunter pushed her way through the crowd on the village green, and let out a gasp when she saw what they were gathered around.

  On the grass was a body draped in a cream picnic blanket. The body was still and Nancy could see there was blood seeping through the blanket. Someone had been killed at the fete.

  Nancy looked around trying to spot the best-selling author who had been about to give a talk and do a book signing at the fete. She had organised the event and now it had all gone wrong. She couldn’t find Thomas Green in the crowd or any of his entourage either. Where was his agent? His wife? His bodyguard?

  Then she had a terrible thought – what if the body that had just been found was one of them?

  DCI Brown pushed through the crowd then, and crouched down to look at the body.

  ‘Who has been killed?’ her grandmother Jane asked from beside her. She shook her head and turned to her friend Jonathan, who looked as shocked as she felt.

  Nancy had been worried that something bad would happen at the Dedley End summer fete. Someone had been trying to sabotage Thomas Green’s event. Someone who seemed to have a grudge against the author. Someone who was out for revenge. Someone who had threatened his life.

  And now there was a dead body on the grass in front of her. What if their threat had been carried out? What if Thomas Green had been murdered?

  As she looked at the body covered by the blanket, she was struck by the realisation that what was in front of her seemed eerily familiar. With a shock, she knew where she had seen this exact crime scene before.

  In Thomas Green’s new book.

  DCI Brown reached for the blanket then, and Nancy held her breath as he lifted it up to see who was dead underneath.

  Chapter One

  Sunshine streamed through the window of Dedley Endings Bookshop over the head of sleeping beagle Charlie and pooled on the counter where owner Nancy Hunter was engrossed in a book.

  Nancy jumped as the bell sounded on the door as it opened. ‘Oh, Gran, you startled me,’ she said with a laugh. ‘I just got to the killer’s confession,’ she explained, putting her copy of A Perfect Murder by Thomas Green down.

  ‘Ooh, I’m sorry, sounds exciting,’ Jane Hunter said as she walked over to her granddaughter. Jane had run the bookshop since Nancy’s father passed away, but had now retired, handing the reins over to Nancy, although she loved the place so much, she was unable to keep away. ‘I’m just on my way to the fete committee meeting, I wondered if you fancied me picking up fish and chips on my way back?’

  ‘Sounds perfect.’

  Jane glanced around. ‘It’s quiet in here today.’

  ‘The school rush has long gone, but we did sell a lot of copies of A Perfect Murder, which was great.’ The bookshop only sold crime, thriller and mystery books. Nancy’s father, George, had loved crime fiction and as so many famous detective stories were set in the Cotswolds, he’d thought it was the perfect idea to theme his bookshop around them. ‘I’ll be closing in twenty.’ Nancy tucked a stray hair from her chestnut brown bob back behind her ear. ‘Thought I’d carry on reading Thomas’s book; I need to finish it before the fete.’

  ‘I still can’t believe he’s coming to our village.’ Jane’s eyes danced with excitement at the thought of the bestselling crime author arriving in Dedley End. ‘Right, I’d better go, otherwise Gloria will have my guts for garters.’ She marched out with purpose, her short grey hair bouncing as she walked.

  Nancy smiled to herself – her gran loved being involved in all of Dedley End’s events and the annual summer fete was one of her favourites. It would be held in four days’ time on the village green and there was extra excitement in the air this year as Thomas Green was the guest of honour. Nancy looked down at the book and beamed. She could hardly wait. Nancy, a lifetime lover of books, was finally going to meet an author in real life and he was one of her all-time favourites too!

  Nancy stepped out from behind the counter. ‘Almost time for our walk,’ she said to Charlie, who was still in his usual spot on the window seat, now looking out at the villagers passing by. She went over to the new bulletin board which they were using to publicise upcoming events. They now had a weekly story time for children and a monthly book club, and now finally they had their first author event. She went over to the poster they’d had made to announce the talk at the fete. She frowned. Someone had written on it in Sharpie. She looked around. It had been a busy day so she hadn’t noticed anyone hanging around the poster.

  Walking right up to it, she leaned in to look at it more closely.

  You will pay for what you have done.

  Nancy gasped when she read what someone had defaced the poster with. Was this a joke? Or something serious? Her pulse sped up.

  It was written right next to Thomas Green’s name. But why would someone write that? Thomas was one of the UK’s biggest crime authors, with a hit TV series based on his books to boot. It had been ten years since he’d last published a book, the TV series taking up his time in between, but finally he’d written a new Detective Anderson novel and was doing a promotional tour for it. The fact that he wanted to return to the Cotswolds, where he had grown up, for the first stop was the icing on the cake.

  Nancy’s eyes moved lower. That wasn’t the only thing someone had done with their Sharpie.

  At the bottom of the poster was a headshot of Thomas and whoever h
ad written the warning words had also put a big black permanent cross through his picture.

  But who would have done this? And what did it mean? Was Thomas in danger? Surely he would be safe coming to Dedley End?

  Then Nancy thought about how six months ago there had been a murder in the village. She had helped find the culprit, along with her gran, and her best friend, local reporter Jonathan Murphy. But everything had been quiet since then. No crime of any kind had been committed. And the family responsible for the murder had fled the village.

  So, it was a shock to find this threat on the poster. Nancy had no idea if the threat was real or not but she couldn’t pretend it wasn’t there.

  After solving the murder at the house on the hill at Christmas, nothing remotely dangerous had happened but she wondered if that was about to change.

  Nancy was glad she was alone in the bookshop because although she was worried by what she was looking at, she was also a little bit excited.

  Chapter Two

  A banging on the bookshop door roused Nancy from staring at the poster a few minutes later and she turned to see her best friend Jonathan Murphy standing outside. Relieved, Nancy hurried over to open the door and let him in. She had turned the sign to ‘Closed’ and locked the door a little earlier than usual as she hadn’t wanted anyone to see the poster until she had shown him.

  ‘What’s the emergency?’ Jonathan asked as Charlie galloped over to jump up at him, trying to lick his face. The dog accompanied Nancy in the bookshop on most days, and he was a big fan of Jonathan’s and couldn’t stay sleeping once he arrived.

  ‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ she said as Jonathan laughingly greeted the dog.

  ‘I came as soon as I finished work. What’s up?’ Jonathan was a couple of inches shorter than willowy Nancy with fair hair and a line of stubble across his skin. He was wearing old jeans and a thin T-shirt that he’d had for years. He didn’t care about his appearance but annoyingly was naturally good-looking regardless.

  ‘Come and look at this.’ Nancy led Jonathan over to the events section and pointed. ‘Look at what someone has done to our poster.’

  Jonathan leaned in to look, and then whistled. ‘Blimey, someone really doesn’t like Thomas Green, do they?’

  ‘It’s so vicious. I mean, do you think the threat is real?’

  He turned to her. ‘Surely it’s just a kid messing about – a joke? Albeit a sick one?’

  ‘I don’t know. I have a bad feeling about it.’

  ‘You didn’t see who wrote it?’

  ‘It’s been so busy again today so, no.’ Nancy wasn’t complaining – running an independent shop in this day and age wasn’t easy but thankfully the Cotswolds was busy with people visiting for the summer and the bookshop was long established in the village. Plus, after helping to solve a real-life murder, Nancy and her grandmother had gained a certain notoriety and as such, more people than ever had been drawn to pick up a book from them and grill them about their crime-solving antics while they were there. Nancy had had a busy day as she’d been on her own in the shop so had mostly been stuck behind the counter and hadn’t had her eye on the noticeboard at all. ‘I thought we could look over the CCTV from today and see if we can spot anyone hovering by the board or acting suspiciously? It would put my mind at rest if it does turn out to be a kid just messing about.’

  ‘I’m happy to help.’

  Nancy led him through the shop and into the back office where the CCTV monitor and her laptop were, as well as the very important tea-making station. They passed the section where Thomas Green’s Detective Anderson series was shelved. She had ordered in more copies than usual of his backlist and yesterday his new novel had come in so she’d made a table display of the books. A Perfect Murder was already heading to the top of the best-seller list and she was fast running out of copies as people stocked up in preparation for his talk and signing at the summer fete on Saturday.

  Jonathan glanced at the books as they passed them. ‘If this warning is real, what could Thomas Green possibly have done to offend someone in this village?’

  ‘Maybe we need to find out,’ Nancy said, a little twinkle in her eyes.

  Jonathan grinned at her. ‘It has been a little dull around here the past six months, if we’re honest about it, hasn’t it?’

  Nancy gave a small nod. ‘I can’t lie – I was immediately intrigued by the warning to Thomas; it has been quiet without a mystery to solve.’ At Christmas, they had attended a party at the Roth family home – the house on the hill – and a young woman recently married into the family had been killed there. They had investigated Lucy Roth’s murder together with help from Jane and Penelope, the part-time assistant in the bookshop. Dedley End was usually a safe and peaceful place to live, which Nancy had always loved, but the past few months had felt dull in comparison after helping bring a killer to justice.

  ‘Let’s hope you’ve found us another one then,’ Jonathan said as they went into the office. He sat down on one of the office chairs. ‘I said to Tony today that we need an angle on my Thomas Green article; I don’t want it to be just a puff piece.’ He rubbed his hands together. ‘Maybe there’s an angle here.’ Jonathan worked as assistant editor for local paper the Cotswold Star, and Tony was his boss. He had been promoted after getting the scoop on the murder of Lucy Roth.

  Nancy smoothed down her white shirt, which was tucked into camel-coloured cigarette pants, and sat on the other chair, switching on the TV and starting to rewind the CCTV recording. She squinted at the screen. Jonathan leaned in closer to watch along with her. ‘Okay, here’s opening time and if I click here I can enlarge the picture from the camera at the end of the shop.’

  ‘I think the event noticeboard is still out of sight,’ he said, pointing with his fingers to where it was. They could see where the board was, but a bookcase concealed it from view. ‘We might see who walked over to it, though. Keep going.’

  Nancy fast-forwarded through the day. ‘Look,’ she said, slowing it down. A man had walked over to the board and seemed to be reading the notices on it. His back was turned, obscuring what he was doing from the camera. ‘That’s Mr Peabody. He wears that hat all the time, and he picked up his order earlier.’

  ‘Well, he couldn’t have done it, could he?’ Jonathan replied.

  Nancy shook her head. Mr Peabody had lived in Dedley End for all of his life and was now in his eighties, and a former police officer to boot.

  They watched as Mr Peabody moved away from the board and another man moved into the area. Again, they could only see his back and the fact he had dark hair. He was wearing a light trench coat although the weather was dry. He froze, staring at the noticeboard for a few seconds. Then he moved closer to it and they couldn’t see him or the board at all any more.

  ‘No way to see for sure but there is no one else who gets close to it; it must have been him,’ Jonathan said.

  Nancy nodded in agreement.

  A couple of seconds later, the man came back into view as he stepped away from the noticeboard. He glanced upwards briefly, his gaze catching the camera, his dark eyes visible, and then he put his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. Nancy caught a glint of some kind of pin or brooch on his lapel, and then he ducked his head down again and proceeded to walk out of the bookshop.

  ‘I don’t recognise him, do you?’ Nancy asked. She opened up the footage from other cameras in the shop and saw she’d been at the till talking to a family whose kids were enthusiastically telling her about their favourite books, so she hadn’t noticed the man in the shop. She watched as she waved to Mr Peabody, and a local woman came over to buy a book. By the time the sale had gone through, the man in the trench coat had disappeared.

  ‘No, who is he?’ Jonathan said.

  ‘Maybe Mr Peabody saw him, and would know? It could be worth asking him,’ Nancy said. Then she smiled. ‘He’ll be pleased to see us investigating again.’ He had thought it a good joke that Nancy, Jonathan and her grandmother had foun
d Lucy Roth’s killer before the police. He had declared if he’d still been on the force they wouldn’t have had a chance, of course.

  Jonathan chuckled. ‘And not much goes on here without Mr Peabody taking note of it.’

  Nancy turned from the CCTV to look at Jonathan. ‘Do you think that this man really could have a grudge against Thomas Green? But why?’

  He shrugged. ‘I don’t know but this is the first time Thomas has been back in the Cotswolds for ten years, maybe that’s stirring up a grudge from the past? I mean, he grew up around here, after all.’

  ‘Or maybe it’s someone who’s jealous of his success?’ The Detective Anderson books were hugely popular and the TV series had been a big success over the years; everyone was excited to read the new novel and see it on TV next year.

  ‘Or it could be to do with his private life,’ Jonathan said. ‘I’ve been looking into Thomas Green as much as I can before your event so I can write an article afterwards, and he has three ex-wives. And has recently married again,’ he added.

  ‘Goodness! I don’t know where you’d get the time to find so many wives,’ Nancy said, shaking her head. She hadn’t even had a date since things ended with her ex-boyfriend, Richard, at Christmas.

  ‘Speaking of which, I had a date last night,’ Jonathan said.

  ‘Oh?’ she coughed. ‘How was it?’

  Jonathan seemed to meet a new woman every week. Not that they lasted any longer than that but Nancy always felt nervous of the dynamic of their friendship changing. If Jonathan fell in love she knew it could, and she didn’t want that to happen.

  ‘Awful, to be honest. She spent an hour – not kidding, a full hour – telling me all about her love for Harry Styles.’

  ‘Well, he is handsome,’ she said with a laugh, feeling somewhat relieved that it hadn’t gone well – although that made her feel like a really bad friend.

  ‘She then proceeded to say he was her perfect man and I really didn’t look like him at all,’ Jonathan continued. ‘When I told her I couldn’t sing in tune at all, she left, saying she had to feed her cat. So, another excellent date to add to the list.’