A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy — Ann Cleeves

Vicars' wives do not usually get themselves murdered...
... especially when they are as vibrant and caring as beautiful Dorothea Cassidy. But murdered she unquestionably was; and from the outset Inspector Stephen Ramsay is hard put to figure out why, let alone who. And though he did not know her in life, she charms him in her death.

Reconstructing her last day, he talks to everyone she encountered. An unwed mother who dreams of a new life, a church warden with a secret vice, a retarded teenager, Dorothea's adoring stepson and his insecure girlfriend, and, of course, the vicar himself--each adds something, yet nothing adds up. Until the murderer selects another victim.