Welcome to The Salisbury Murders

This series of books features an unlikely detecting duo of amateur sleuths in Meg Thornton and Lauren Peachy.

Eighty-one year old Meg is a retired teacher and widow of the late DCI Grant Thornton of Bournemouth CID. Now living in a care home in Salisbury, she loves reading murder-mystery books and doing jigsaw puzzles. She is mentally sharp and alert, not to mention very observant of her surroundings, although physically she is hampered by a painful arthritic hip.

Nineteen year old Lauren is just starting her first full-time job as a care assistant at The Cedars where Meg is a resident. She is intelligent, a quick learner and is eager to make something of her life, having had a difficult few years: she lost her father in a car accident and then looked after her mother through her cancer treatment.

The two feel an immediate affinity on their first meeting; Meg sees a younger version of herself in Lauren, and Lauren finds someone she is able to confide in and look up to.

Watch their relationship develop as they investigate mysteries in and around Salisbury; a perfect partnership between Meg's knowledge and experience and Lauren's youth and enthusiasm. 

Discover other characters such as fellow resident Albert (never Bert) Grimshaw, a retired Royal Navy officer who harbours a (not so) secret admiration for Meg's deductive powers, Lauren's mum Bekka, who is constantly worried for her daughter's safety, and DI Daniel Bywater and DS Vivian Williams of the Salisbury Police, who are at first incredulous and annoyed by Meg and Lauren's investigating but who gradually form a close relationship with our two heroines.

Book one: The Mystery of the Missing Brooch is now available in paperback and e-book formats!

Book two: The Mystery of the Missing Wallet has been written and will be published in spring 2025.

Book three: The Mystery of the Missing Child has been written and will be published in autumn 2025.

Book four: The Mystery of the Missing Bequest is being written.

Book five: The Mystery of the Missing Chalice is in the pipeline

Book six: watch this space!