Dearly Departed: An English Village Cosy Murder Mystery (The Happy Spine Club Mysteries Book 1) by Lynn McAvenia

Author:Lynn McAvenia [McAvenia, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-24T00:00:00+00:00

With all the seats filled, Becky called out from her portable desk that public video recording had begun. Emma felt herself blush. Anyone in Fenton Lacey who had not grabbed one of the coveted hundred and thirty seats in the hall was no doubt sitting at home in front of a computer right now.

Sam would be at the kitchen table with Rhea on his lap, peering at their laptop. Remy, never one for crowds, would also be watching from home. Emma had searched the room for Carol, but she was not there. Carol never missed any event in the village. This was surely a testament to her continued anger at her daughter.

Mark called the meeting to order. Becky came on to the stage and read the minutes from the previous meeting, and these were confirmed by vote of the council as being accurate. There were a few murmured comments from the crowd and an equal number of hushing sounds.

Emma could sense their restlessness. They had not come here for this. They wanted to talk about the murder.

The major beside her said in an undertone, ‘The natives are restless tonight, my dear.’ She was both annoyed at his patronising impertinence and nervous that those who were there seemed to be sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for something to happen.

Mark read out the items on the agenda. Fortunately, the agenda was mercifully short. The other council members had been smart enough to remove their own items from consideration. Apart from Emma’s street lighting presentation, there were only her two requests for funding for the bird hide in Lordswood and the creation of a living history project.

When Mark mentioned the living history project, Mrs Miller called out ‘Hear, hear’ and clapped loudly. The crowd may have mistaken her position in the middle of the front row as lending her some kind of authority. Several of them joined in with the clapping, probably not understanding at all what was happening. Mrs Lowry turned to stare at Mrs Miller while leaning as far away from her as possible.

Emma was sitting next to Mark, who whispered, ‘You’ve got a winner on your hands, young lady. Congratulations.’

The major, on her other side, punched her shoulder lightly. ‘Well done, my dear.’

This was the very last thing Emma wanted. The idea of returning to Leighton House to listen to the old lady reminisce about her father filled her with dread. She consoled herself with the thought that there had been no official vote and she might still get out of the blasted thing.

It was time for her presentation on future street lighting. She took the microphone from Mark and reached under her chair to gather her notes, only to discover that she had sat down in a different seat after the team huddle. There then followed an inadvertent game of musical chairs as two of the older gentlemen got up to help her search for them. The notes were nowhere to be found. Eventually, all seven

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