A Row of Beans — Robert Irvine

When Henrietta Carr takes over as vicar of St Peter's Church in Cookington on the outskirts of London, not everyone is thrilled by her sex, her high and mighty ways and her appeal to men. And she has a past - one which catches up with her, fatally, on the allotments near her beloved church. Who could take issues of ritual and gardening to the point of murder? Who of the men in Henrietta's life would want her dead? These questions confront genial amateur detective Alistair MacTavish, called in by the dead woman's husband, Dennis, when the police have drawn a blank over her murder. Alistair has his own issues to face when his new-found love, Zoe, turns out to have a connection with one of Henrietta's former boyfriends. Can he keep faith with Zoe, hunt down the killer unscathed, and rediscover his own dormant faith in the process? Robert Irvine's thought-provoking murder mystery finds fertile soil in Cookington's allotments. The result is a rich mix of modern morals, local heroics and heady romance.