Murder in Kirkluce (DI Marjory Fleming #4)

Originally published as Lamb to the Slaughter

Kirkluce is a sleepy Galloway market town of family-run shops and friendly faces, where everyone knows your name — and your business.

Then the superstore men arrive, waving their chequebooks.

Neighbour turns on neighbour. Livelihoods hang in the balance. And the whole battle comes down to one stubborn old man.

Colonel Andrew Carmichael. Old soldier. Local benefactor. The man who won't sell.

First, a slaughtered sheep is dumped in his courtyard.

A warning.

Days later, the colonel opens his front door — and is shot dead on his own doorstep.

Detective Marjory Fleming has no shortage of suspects. A councillor with everything to gain. A nephew waiting on his inheritance. A charming conman with a criminal past. A terrified old woman with a loaded shotgun behind her door.

Then another body is found.

A teenage boy, shot dead at point-blank range. A boy Fleming's own daughter called a friend.

Now Detective Fleming is hunting a killer in plain sight. Someone trusted. Someone welcome in every shop, every home, every corner of Kirkluce.

In this town, everyone has secrets. And some are worth killing for.