Mitchell & Markby Books In Order

Publication Order of Mitchell and Markby Books

Mitchell & Markby are the main characters in a series of mystery/crime novels written by a bestselling English author of mystery and thriller books, Anna Granger. Detective Superintendent Alan Markby works alongside his girlfriend Mitchell to solve crimes. Granger began the publication of Mitchell & Markby series in 1991 when Say It with Poison, the first book in the series was published. The series lasted 15 novels concluding in 2004 when That Way Murder Lies was published.

Say It with Poison

Say It with Poison is a mystery, a whodunit and the first book in Mitchell & Markby series by Ann Granger. First published in 1991 by Headline Publishing, the novel first introduces readers to two lead characters Markby and his girlfriend Mitchell. Even though they are attracted to each other, the two are not a team, and instead, they work in opposing directions.

Meredith Mitchell is in her mid-thirties in this first novel; she is a British servant, without a single relative to take cares of. She embarks on a professional career as a diplomatist and spends most of her years abroad and recently in Yugoslavia. However, when she returns back home, she becomes an amateur private eye. On the other hand is Alan Markby, a man in his early 40’s, he is a divorced cop working from the fictional town of Bamford somewhere in Cotswold. The two make their first contact when the cops have to investigate the death in a small village next to Bamford where Mitchell is living.

Eve Owens, a famous British film star in her mid-40’s who has settled in a small village in Bamford invites her cousin Mitchell to attend her daughter’s wedding which is expected to take place in weeks time in the old village town. But things take a twisted turn when one of Eve’s neighbors, Philip Lorrimer is found dead in his house. The autopsy performed reveals that he was poisoned and that he had been poisoned over a long period- a slow death. At first glance, there are no suspects, because no one had a motive for killing Philip. However, one night, Lorrimer’s 80-year old neighbor, Yewell is also murdered in his pajamas just next to his garden, and it soon becomes clear that he must have known what killed Phillip which he was about to give away.

The first in Mitchell & Markby series is a great read, a blend of murder, mystery, and marriage. Ann Granger is famously known for writing out of this planet traditional detective fiction, and thanks to her experience in writing she brings this classic whodunit up to date. As opposed to St. Mary Mead, the fictional town created by famous crime fiction novelist Agatha Christie in the popular Miss Marple series, the village of Westerfield is a soulless place with a population that is rapidly decreasing thanks to all the people leaving. There is no village school, village shop, no vicarage, no doctor’s practice and the small old church always boarded up and only available for use on special occasions. Despite all this, the villagers are hesitant to accept, and always suspicious of any newcomers to their small rural community.

Murder Among Us

In Murder Among Us, Granger presents us to Bamford as a normal English village- one on the edge of losing both its social and historical cohesion. As expected, different groups of people react differently.

DCI Markby is distressed that the small village is gradually expanding and that more people are settling in resulting to the rise in criminal gangs and other petty crimes thanks to the social forces. Adding to his frustration and consternation is his superiors pressuring him to take a promotion that would not only force the result to him spending more time behind the desk but also take him away from his village, and all the people he knows.

A newcomer has taken over the local manor hall which has increase the outrage of the local historical community- and not only is the foreigner remodeling the structure but he is also turning it into a modern high-end hotel. The change of the manor hall ownership also endangers the rest house for the horse. As this change causes stress in people’s lives, the dark secrets which people thought that would be forever be buried deep rise to the surface. The more mysterious the secret, the more intense the reaction as it surfaces and sometimes ensuring that a secret is buried forever means murder. On the official opening day of the high-end hotel, the historical society opposes, a knife is stolen from the kitchen and a woman is murdered, and the deepest of the scariest secrets is kept.

It falls to Detective Chief Inspector Markby to investigate and filter through all the lies and the lives in search of the truth. Even as he tries to avoid his promotion, and at the same time balancing his personal and professional life, represented by his long-suffering and perceptive girlfriend Mitchell who finds herself drawn into the case by the fact that she was present at the hotel during the opening ceremony with Markby. Working independently of each other and sometimes in many opposing sides, Mitchell and Markby find themselves arriving at the same conclusion but using different investigative techniques.

Where Old Bones Lie
Where Old Bones Lie is set in an in an archeological dig and kicks off when Mitchell is phoned by an old friend. Ursula has just put an end to a bad affair with a colleague, but the man, Dan claims that he still loves her. Subsequently, Dan’s wife vanishes without traces making Ursula suspect that he killed her.

Dan and Ursula work for a Trust that is funding an archeological dig near Bamford, searching for the grave of an ancient Saxon Chieftan. But soon the body of Dan’s wife is discovered on a rubbish pit near the dig site. Did Dan really murder his wife or was it the New Age travelers? Where Old Bones Lie is a well-written mystery with a brilliant archeological background and well-woven characters.