A Most Unusual Demise by Katherine Black - #BlogTour #Excerpt

 

I am excited to be bringing you an excerpt from this book today, as part of the blog tour. Any book with a dog on the cover has to be good. Right?

A Most Unusual Demise by Katherine Black.

The Blurb

Retired librarian and bookshop owner May Morrigan lives in the affluent village of Blackheath with Fletcher, her best friend since they met decades ago, and May’s two dogs. What could be more normal? But May is not your average little old lady . . .

After an unpleasant church volunteer and an annoying local butcher meet their untimely ends, Fletcher and May team up to do some sleuthing. Soon, the elderly pair start working with a young journalist to investigate the case of a missing girl and its possible link to previous unsolved crimes. May finds this new project quite intriguing. She’s never met a murderer before—and now she just may get the chance, if they play their cards right . . .

Excerpt

Back home, May warmed her still elegant hands over the radiator in her front room. Her

home, a regal double-fronted Georgian named Greenway, stood on a slight rise, providing a

picturesque view across the heath to St Julian’s church and Blackheath Village on the other

side. She could almost believe that she lived in a countryside hamlet, if not for the traffic and

the glass towers of Canary Wharf on the horizon.

Greenway, built in 1730, was a popular brothel until May’s great-great-grandfather won the

house in a game of cards in the back room of the Three Tuns. The following week the

harlots moved out and the Morrigan clan moved in. A Morrigan had lived there ever since.

May had been born, kicking and screaming, in an upstairs bedroom. After a decade away,

first studying and then travelling, the death of her father had pulled her back to Blackheath.

She brought a husband, James, with her and they made Greenway their home. May knew

every inch of the building, from the chimney pots on the roof to the darkest depths of the

cellar.

She looked out at the heath, with its big sky and open space. It comforted May. Like her

home, it was a constant. On her desk were vintage postcards from the 1800s, and it was

much the same. Same buildings, same green with the church perched on one side and the

village crowding around the upper corner. It had all existed long before May and would

continue long after.

James had been gone for over a year, after two years of fighting that wretched disease. May

had given herself over to grief, mourned her loss, and now it was time to move forward.

Today was about new beginnings, about making the most of the time she had left. She ran

her hand across the pocket of her cardigan, feeling the reassuring shape of the little

container. Yes, it would be a pleasure to take charge of her life again.