DI Vera Stanhope is not one to make friends easily, but her hippy neighbours keep her well-supplied in homebrew and conversation so she has more tolerance for them than most. When one of them goes missing she feels duty-bound to find out what happened. But her path leads her to more than just a missing friend. Originally published: London: Macmilla

While Bea Abbot worries that she's lost control of her domestic agency, she's asked to find a home help for an eccentric little musician falsely accused of murder. She doesn't realise how dangerous this might be until Jeremy - fleeing from attempts on his life - lands up on her doorstep.