A Body in the Bookshop

by Helen Cox

  Evie laughed at how quickly Kitt had risen to the bait.

  ‘What about you, anyway, how are you feeling about going home?’

  ‘All right,’ said Evie. ‘A bit nervous.’

  ‘You don’t have to tell your mum so soon, you know, about you and Charley. If you wanted, you could wait a while.’

  Evie shrugged. ‘That’s the thing, I don’t want to wait.’

  ‘I’d say that’s a very good sign,’ said Kitt.

  ‘I think so. In a weird way, I feel like I’ve been waiting for this all along.’

  ‘So you’re going to tell your mum, about the special someone you’ve met?’

  Evie sighed and smiled out at the view. In the near distance she could see the White Horse of Kilburn, a limestone figure that was carved into the hillside many years ago. It was just a few miles outside Thirsk and whenever she saw it she knew that she was almost home again. The motion of the train always made it seem to her as though the horse had broken free of its restraints and was galloping along the terrain. She watched it canter, wild and untethered. Unapologetically itself in the moment without any fear of what tomorrow might bring.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘I am.’

  If you enjoyed A Body in the Bookshop, order Murder on the Moorland now

  Acknowledgements

  Much gratitude is due to my agent Jo Swainson who continues to steer me through the experience of being an author with the grace and good humour so dearly required. I consider myself very lucky indeed to know you and work with you.

  Heartfelt thanks also to my editor Therese Keating who has masterfully offered both sincere encouragement and a critical eye as needed; the very things an author requires to be the best they can be.

  Appreciation is also due to my specialist readers: Hazel Nicholson for advising on police procedure, John Leete for explaining the ins and outs of hospital life and Matthew Tyson for his seemingly boundless knowledge of vintage cars. A huge thank you to all of you for supporting me in achieving a certain level of authenticity.

  There are those also who have read chapters and segments on the way to spur me on through the writing process: Ann Leander, Claudine Mussuto and Dean Cummings. To be in touch with creative spirits such as yours is a great gift that I treasure and always will.

  When it comes to the support of my family and friends I am a very fortunate soul. Thank you to Mam, Dad, Elaine, Sheena, Steven, Phil, Barbara, Ray, Christine, John, Tom, Gigi, Janet, Peter, Katie, Katell, Jackson, Maria, Louisa, Ian, Nigel, Matt and Esther for all of the times you’ve asked how things are going with my writing and for not pressing me too hard over my non-committal answers.

  Lastly, thanks to my husband Jo for his patience with my ­writerly ways, for loving the strange bundle of contradiction that I am and for reassuring me that I should keep putting pen to paper.

  If you enjoyed A Body in the Bookshop, look out for the next gripping Kitt Hartley mystery

  A baffling death on the Yorkshire Moors leads Kitt to a literary treasure hunt - and a small village hiding a very big secret...

  Order Murder on the Moorland now

  Contents

  A Body in the Bookshop

  Also By

  Title

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Thirty-Four

  Thirty-Five

  Thirty-Six

  Thirty-Seven

  Thirty-Eight

  Acknowledgements

  Landmarks

  Cover