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The Cat and the Corpse in the Old Barn

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The Cat and the Corpse in the Old Barn

By: Kate High
Narrated by: Charlotte Strevens
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'Animal lovers will delight' Ann Granger

'A real treat . . . I loved it. Cats, dogs, murder and a credible and relatable heroine' Barbara Nadel

Clarice Beech has two passions in life: animal rescue and Detective Inspector Rick Beech. She is devoted to the first but she and Rick have been separated for the past six months - life without him is hard.

Clarice shares her other love, for contemporary ceramics, with the charming Lady Vita Fayrepoynt. When Vita's adopted three-legged ginger cat Walter disappears from Weatherby Hall Clarice is called in to find him. Walter, snug in an old barn, is quite well. But his discovery ends with Clarice in hospital, and Rose Miller, late of the Old Vicarage in the morgue. There is nothing natural about Rose's death...

Putting their differences aside, Clarice and Rick are drawn together to try to understand the murder that has shaken the rural Lincolnshire community. As she explores Rose's past Clarice is pulled into a shady world of blackmail, scams and violence. And as the secrets of Weatherby Hall and the Fayrepoynt family threaten to spill out Clarice finds friendships tested, and her own life at risk.

A debut mystery set in the Lincolnshire Wolds, featuring an amateur detective who mixes sleuthing with her other great love: animal rescue. The perfect classic crime mystery for fans of Ann Granger, M. C. Beaton and Caroline Graham's Midsomer Murders. Animals Cosy Crime Detective Fiction Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Cats Murder
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Critic reviews

Ideal holiday reading . . . I took a liking to Clarice the moment I knew she adopted feral kittens . . . I do hope Kate High will write more books about Clarice and Rick . . . animal lovers will delight in them (Ann Granger, author of the Mitchell & Markby and the Campbell & Carter mysteries)
A real treat. Cosy but not cosy, I loved it. Cats, dogs, murder, a credible and relatable heroine and a landscape that is new to me (Barbara Nadel, author of the Inspector Ikmen mysteries)
All stars
Most relevant
I read in a post in a Facebrook group that a lady had written 4 books in a series. They sounded interesting so I bought the first one on Audible as I can listen while I work. Hooked straight away, thoroughly enjoyed all the characters and the story. Going to get the next one now!

Very enjoyable

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I’m returning this book because I can’t cope with a main character who rescues cats and dogs but is married to someone who goes shooting and I suspect both eat animals. I should have been suspicious when I read on the author’s bio that she was involved with the RSPCA. As a true animal lover who with her extraordinary husband became vegetarians some 45 years ago and who has now been a vegan for some years, I have no time for people who play at being animal rescuers. My husband and I started a Rescue and Sanctuary for foxes, cats, dogs and other animals and took in old and/or difficult animals to live in the house with us. We didn’t play at it or consort with people who killed animals. This novel started out fine but within a few chapters I couldn’t stomach any more of these characters and wasn’t prepared to continue listening any longer. I fully accept that my views won’t resonate with many readers but as someone who has a library standing today at 2746 audiobooks I have more than enough to enjoy. On to the next book.

Well there are animal lovers and the rest

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