Though Sally Jupp came from the village home for unmarried mothers, she seemed the ideal girl to help Mrs Maxie run a large Elizabethan manor house and look after her invalid husband. But the real Sally, pretty, ambitious and clever, was very different from the docile, repentant character she seemed to be. Murder shattered the tranquillity of her new home and Chief Detective Inspector Adam Dalgliesh arrived in the peace of a country Sunday to solve a case as mysterious as Sally herself. He soon discovers that there is no shortage of motives, and as he investigates, the complex secrets and powerful passions of village and family life come into play. This BBC Radio dramatisation stars Robin Ellis, with Hugh Thomas Grant and Siân Phillips.
Judi Bowker and Anna Massey star in this gripping BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation featuring young detective Cordelia Gray. Mark Calendar, 21 years old and in his final year at Cambridge, leaves university without warning and takes a job as a gardener. Eighteen days later he is found hanging in the cottage where he lived.
The verdict at the inquest is suicide. Cordelia Gray, now sole proprietor of the Pryde Detective Agency, is hired by Mark's father, the eminent scientist Sir Ronald, to piece together the facts surrounding his death. Gradually she sheds light on the apparent suicide, and long-suppressed family secrets begin to emerge. Whilst further tragedy is in store for the family, Cordelia discovers that, in the midst of Mark's many friends, there is a dangerous enemy with the cold and complex mind of a killer.
