The Village Green Affair

Book excerpt: A mysterious visitor has arrived in Turnham Malpas. What can Titus Bellamy want? Is it true, the villagers ask each other, that he has discovered a medieval charter which grants the right to hold a market on their picturesque village green? And if it is true, can he be stopped? It appears not. Meanwhile, after twenty-five years, the marriage of Liz and Neville Neal, the ambitious local accountant, is on the rocks. Or so the unhappy Liz thinks. But Neville, to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary, has decided to throw a lavish party. The anniversary party and the market on the green mark both the beginning and end of two quite different relationships. But is it really all the fault of Titus Bellamy? The village is divided - before a spate of burglaries on market day adds fuel to the hot debate. Feisty Grandmama Charter-Plackett decides to do something about it, and becomes both a militant protestor and England's oldest private detective... The ancient village green has been at the centre of Turnham Malpas life for many lively centuries. But the events of this short passionate summer are a match for anything it has witnessed before. Rebecca Shaw brings the warmth, humour and drama that enliven all these village books in this, the thirteenth of her bestselling Turnham Malpas series.