Sadly Missed — Anna Bradley

Full of dark humour, this story of an unemployed anti establshment woman - Ros Green- who is thrown together with a pompous git of a policeman - the very correct P.C Jack Russell when the meet at the funeral of Kitty Bassett Hood. Kitty had been found dead on the village green shortly after posting a lettter to a friend with second name Green.. Ros is interested because Kitty, one of four girls with the surname Green at school, had been her arch enemy at school and yet her husband is convinced she was Kitty's special friend and 'knows something'. The husband is so convinced that he attempts to drug her. D.C Jack Russell is interested because against all his principles, he is instructed to to do a quick and shabby job, and cover up the evidence. This kind of policing is anathema to him. From the start theirs is a love hate relationship but, in proving it was murder and then solving it, they learn to respect each other's qualities - her down to earth reliability, and his total commitment to good policing. They discover that under the surface the small town where Jack is stationed a huge crime ring based round drugs and computer crime flourishes. All branches of society are involved from the Women's Institiute to the Chief Constable. As they slowly unravel the web Ros revisits her home town and Kitty's parents, and traces the other Greens - one dead and the other living in luxury - the mistress of an MP and of an oil magnate. Jack gets introduced to her family of five brothers including the computer expert who shows them how Bassett Hood had hacked into chemical files to get information and accreditation to import and resell the drugs.They cannot prove he murdered Kitty but finally bring him to justice on charges of murder but arrect him for drug manufacture and peddling. His arrest is followed by many worthy citizens of the small town including the Deputy Superindentent of Police, the treasurer of the Women's institute, Mrs Blackburn, several members of the local Rotary club and others. They had all allowed themselves to be blackmailed into assisting Bassett Hood to perpetuate his Drug empire Ros's knowledge of people helps as they enlist the aid of the local M.P - a stuffy pompous ass whose only experience with drugs is the half aspirin he takes each day to ward off heart attacks, - and ultra respectable and tight lipped Dorothy Blackburn, lover of Bassett Hood, who Ros stretches to breaking point with jealousy with stories of the new beautiful nanny. She is proved right when the one proves a stalwart ally and the other breaks down and confesses. Basset Hood's escape from jail, his attempt to kill Ros, and Dorothy Blackburn's attempt to kill the Nanny all lead to a furious climax and and a very dramatic end.