Appointed to Die — Kate Charles

Death at the Deanery -- sudden and unnatural death. Someone should have seen it coming.

Even before Stuart timer arrives as the new Dean of Malbury Cathedral shock waves reverberate around the tightly knit Cathedral Close, heralding sweeping changes in a community that is not open to change. And the reality is worse than the expectation. The Dean's naked ambition and ruthless behaviour alienate everyone in the Chapter: the Canons, gentle John Kingsley, vague Rupert Greenwood, pompous Philip Thetford; and Subdean Arthur Bridges-ffrench, a traditionalist who resists change most strongly of all.

Financial jiggery-pokery, clandestine meetings, malicious gossip, anti several people who see more than they ought to: a potent mix. But who could foresee that the, mistrust and even hatred within the Cathedral Close would spill over into violence and death? Canon Kingsley's daughter Lucy draws in her lover David Middleton-Brown, against his better judgement, and together they probe the surprising secrets of a self-contained world where nothing is what it seems.