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Mitchell and Markby #9
A Touch of Mortality
When Sally Caswell persuaded her scientist husband Liam to move from London to the quiet of rural Oxfordshire it was in the hope of a more peaceful existence. But so far the move has led to nothing but discord. Liam's sabbatical book project is not going well so, frustrated and isolated, he quarrels incessantly both with Sally and with their next-door neighbour, the crotchety pensioner Bodicote whose unruly goats are a constant source of contention. But then a mysterious package arrives that gives the couple real cause for anxiety.
It appears that Liam is being targeted by animal rights activists, though Superintendent Markby, in charge of the investigation, is not entirely convinced. Liam has many enemies, Bodicote amongs them, and it seems to Markby that Liam's cantankerous old neighbour is hiding something. The more Markby investigates, the more his unease grows - as does that of Meredith Mitchell, Markby's girlfriend and an old friend of Sally Caswell, for Meredith suspects Sally is far from well. Then a body is found ...
It appears that Liam is being targeted by animal rights activists, though Superintendent Markby, in charge of the investigation, is not entirely convinced. Liam has many enemies, Bodicote amongs them, and it seems to Markby that Liam's cantankerous old neighbour is hiding something. The more Markby investigates, the more his unease grows - as does that of Meredith Mitchell, Markby's girlfriend and an old friend of Sally Caswell, for Meredith suspects Sally is far from well. Then a body is found ...
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 12, 1941
15 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
Ann Granger
78 books303 followersAnn Granger attended the Northern Grammar School for Girls, and had thoughts about becoming a veterinarian, but discovered women were not accepted into vet schools because they were not believed to be strong enough. Instead she earned a Modern Languages degree at the University of London, where she first developed a desire to become a writer. worked in British embassies in various parts of the world. She met her husband, who was also working for the British Embassy, in Prague and together they received postings to places as far apart as Munich and Lusaka. They had two children.
Her first novels were historical romances published under the nom de plume Ann Hulme.
In 1991, Granger made the decision to switch to crime novels, saying, "Basically, there is only one plot in love stories: You can describe it in different ways, but you always come back to the subject of man and woman. Crime fiction opens up a world of possibilities for the writer. It lets you tackle deep and difficult issues." Her first crime novel, Say it with Poison, centred on the protagonists Meredith Mitchell, a consular clerk, and police officer Alan Markby. The book proved popular and Granger wrote 14 more Mitchell & Markby novels between 1991 and 2004.
Granger also wrote other crime novel series & in 2021, in recognition of thirty years of crime novels, Granger released a collection of eighteen short stories, Mystery in the Making.
On 24 September 2025, her publisher Headline announced that Granger had died at the age of 86
This autobiography was added to with information from Wikipedia & Encyclopedia.com.
Her first novels were historical romances published under the nom de plume Ann Hulme.
In 1991, Granger made the decision to switch to crime novels, saying, "Basically, there is only one plot in love stories: You can describe it in different ways, but you always come back to the subject of man and woman. Crime fiction opens up a world of possibilities for the writer. It lets you tackle deep and difficult issues." Her first crime novel, Say it with Poison, centred on the protagonists Meredith Mitchell, a consular clerk, and police officer Alan Markby. The book proved popular and Granger wrote 14 more Mitchell & Markby novels between 1991 and 2004.
Granger also wrote other crime novel series & in 2021, in recognition of thirty years of crime novels, Granger released a collection of eighteen short stories, Mystery in the Making.
On 24 September 2025, her publisher Headline announced that Granger had died at the age of 86
This autobiography was added to with information from Wikipedia & Encyclopedia.com.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 23, 2020
Cosy crime story.
April 19, 2018
Saw this one coming a mile away.
May 4, 2016
Meredith Mitchell's old friend, Sally Caswell is unable to keep a lunch date because of a domestic emergency and Meredith drives out to Sally's country cottage in the village of Castle Darcy to see if she can help in any way. Sally and her husband, Liam have moved to the country so that Liam can have time and peace and quiet to get on with the book he is writing but things aren't working out too well and Liam's temper is becoming more and more uncertain. To cap it all he is being targeted by animal rights activists and a suspect package has been delivered.
Superintendent Alan Markby is not convinced by the apparent threats and feels there may be something else behind them. Liam it seems has many enemies - not least the next door neighbour - Hector Bodicote - whose straying goats are a bone of contention. Maybe Bodicote knows more than he is saying too.
This is a well written and frightening mystery with lots of undercurrents and even the reader doesn't know who to trust as everyone seems to have some sort of secret to hide - not all to do with the investigation. I enjoyed reading this book and think it is one of the best in this excellent series that I have read so far.
The author piles up detail on detail with plenty of clues and plenty of suspects and lots of undercurrents. It is interesting to see how Meredith and Alan's relationship is developing as well. I recommend this series to anyone who likes their crime novels low key and without too much on the page violence and bad language. The series needs to be read in order so that the development of the relationship between the main characters can be followed.
Superintendent Alan Markby is not convinced by the apparent threats and feels there may be something else behind them. Liam it seems has many enemies - not least the next door neighbour - Hector Bodicote - whose straying goats are a bone of contention. Maybe Bodicote knows more than he is saying too.
This is a well written and frightening mystery with lots of undercurrents and even the reader doesn't know who to trust as everyone seems to have some sort of secret to hide - not all to do with the investigation. I enjoyed reading this book and think it is one of the best in this excellent series that I have read so far.
The author piles up detail on detail with plenty of clues and plenty of suspects and lots of undercurrents. It is interesting to see how Meredith and Alan's relationship is developing as well. I recommend this series to anyone who likes their crime novels low key and without too much on the page violence and bad language. The series needs to be read in order so that the development of the relationship between the main characters can be followed.
March 11, 2023
A very good read.
At first I thought it was a quiet book but then accidents kept happening. I really didn't like the supposed victim in this Liam Caswell. I wanted the wife to come home and find him dead. But sadly that didn't happen. Other things did, another death supposedly an accident but is it? Is it murder? Nobody can see it isn't anything but a fatal accident. But Markby doesn't stop looking into it and with other circumstances eventually the case is solved 😉 by Markby. Meredith was a friend of Mrs Caswell and as usual goes where she shouldn't. But alls well that ends well.
Onto the next book.
At first I thought it was a quiet book but then accidents kept happening. I really didn't like the supposed victim in this Liam Caswell. I wanted the wife to come home and find him dead. But sadly that didn't happen. Other things did, another death supposedly an accident but is it? Is it murder? Nobody can see it isn't anything but a fatal accident. But Markby doesn't stop looking into it and with other circumstances eventually the case is solved 😉 by Markby. Meredith was a friend of Mrs Caswell and as usual goes where she shouldn't. But alls well that ends well.
Onto the next book.
June 25, 2016
Enjoyable read. Good example of this author. Read again finished 03/11/13, from charity sale.
June 26, 2019
A good read.
A good read from start to finish. The mystery isn’t resolved until the end. Positively recommended to all lovers of cosy crime.
A good read from start to finish. The mystery isn’t resolved until the end. Positively recommended to all lovers of cosy crime.
July 1, 2024
I liked this one, but I am wondering about sick leave in the UK. Like Meredith was really going around, while on a sick leave? Does not happen here where I am from! Apart from that, I really liked the story. Although I was able to predict who was behind it and why, so the case conclusion was a no surprise for me. There were some twists and turns, which did surprise me, like what the neighbour was doing, but apart from that, it was predictable.
Personally, what surprised me was that Sally was putting up with what her husband was doing. If it was me, I would act, hopefully differently. That was the only part of the book, which was annoying me, otherwise I really enjoyed it!
Overall, I liked it, but not sure if I would come back, considering how easily I could have guessed who was behind it and why.
Personally, what surprised me was that Sally was putting up with what her husband was doing. If it was me, I would act, hopefully differently. That was the only part of the book, which was annoying me, otherwise I really enjoyed it!
Overall, I liked it, but not sure if I would come back, considering how easily I could have guessed who was behind it and why.
September 22, 2021
Usually I read quite fast, but obviously only when a book really hits the spot. This book started out promising, reminding me of an M.C Beaton novel, but the further along I got, the slower it got. The dialogues are quite repetitive and stupendous at times. The crime itself was quite interesting and the resolution thereof as well, but the way it was all described, I think it could have been reduced to a much smaller book.
June 9, 2018
Endlich mal ein Fall, bei dem Meredith sich nicht ständig in Lebensgefahr begibt. Auch erscheint mir die Stimmung zwischen den beiden lockerer und Bodicote und Jasper fand ich sehr amüsant.
May 14, 2023
Well written and intriguing
November 25, 2023
Interesting story.
March 16, 2025
Päris põnev lugemine. Lahendus oli pisut otsitud ja lame
May 25, 2025
Quaint country mystery
March 17, 2012
Originally published on my blog here in October 1998.
A Touch of Mortality is another of Ann Granger's well-written Mitchell and Markby crime novels, in much the same vein as the others in the series. It's basically a case of like one, like all. By this point in the series, the relationship between the protagonists is well-established, so there is less about that here and more to establish the puzzle.
Like the others, A Touch of Mortality is a village murder, a successor to those Miss Marple mysteries which were actually set in St Mary Mead. The village setting here is not the gentry and vicars world of Agatha Christie's novels, but a nineties village with modern problems of rural poverty, overspill housing estates and resented outsiders with money.
The central characters in this novel are Sally Caswell and her husband Liam. They have moved from London into the country for peace and quiet for Liam to write a book. She works in an auction house in a local town and he is a biologist at an institute of Oxford University. Because of (now finished) experiments on animals, Liam starts receiving threatening letters from animal rights activists, but it is not until Sally opens a parcel that turns out to be a letter bomb that they involve the police in the person of Alan Markby.
Other than an over-reliance on coincidence common in crime novel series - it's incredibly dangerous to be a friend of Meredith Mitchell - there is nothing to really criticise in this well-written novel.
A Touch of Mortality is another of Ann Granger's well-written Mitchell and Markby crime novels, in much the same vein as the others in the series. It's basically a case of like one, like all. By this point in the series, the relationship between the protagonists is well-established, so there is less about that here and more to establish the puzzle.
Like the others, A Touch of Mortality is a village murder, a successor to those Miss Marple mysteries which were actually set in St Mary Mead. The village setting here is not the gentry and vicars world of Agatha Christie's novels, but a nineties village with modern problems of rural poverty, overspill housing estates and resented outsiders with money.
The central characters in this novel are Sally Caswell and her husband Liam. They have moved from London into the country for peace and quiet for Liam to write a book. She works in an auction house in a local town and he is a biologist at an institute of Oxford University. Because of (now finished) experiments on animals, Liam starts receiving threatening letters from animal rights activists, but it is not until Sally opens a parcel that turns out to be a letter bomb that they involve the police in the person of Alan Markby.
Other than an over-reliance on coincidence common in crime novel series - it's incredibly dangerous to be a friend of Meredith Mitchell - there is nothing to really criticise in this well-written novel.
August 3, 2020
🍷🍷🍷🍷
Another satisfying entry in the series. Meredith Mitchell’s friend Sally Caswell and her husband Liam have recently moved from London to Oxfordshire. Liam finds it difficult to adapt to rural life, is also a target for animal rights activists over his use of live animals in his research, and especially clashes with old Bodicote next door, who keeps goats. Tensions are running high when a package arrives at the Caswell’s house, which is in actuality a mail bomb which explodes and injures Sally, though it’s thought Liam was the target. And then Bodicote is found lying dead in the goatyard.
There’s several lines of inquiry for Chief Inspector Markby to follow, but things don’t seem to progress until someone tries to poison Sally and it becomes clear she is the one under attack, not Liam. As always, Granger paints a terrific picture of the locals involved, as well as Markby and Mitchell’s ongoing relationship. These books are outstanding examples of the classic English village mystery.
Another satisfying entry in the series. Meredith Mitchell’s friend Sally Caswell and her husband Liam have recently moved from London to Oxfordshire. Liam finds it difficult to adapt to rural life, is also a target for animal rights activists over his use of live animals in his research, and especially clashes with old Bodicote next door, who keeps goats. Tensions are running high when a package arrives at the Caswell’s house, which is in actuality a mail bomb which explodes and injures Sally, though it’s thought Liam was the target. And then Bodicote is found lying dead in the goatyard.
There’s several lines of inquiry for Chief Inspector Markby to follow, but things don’t seem to progress until someone tries to poison Sally and it becomes clear she is the one under attack, not Liam. As always, Granger paints a terrific picture of the locals involved, as well as Markby and Mitchell’s ongoing relationship. These books are outstanding examples of the classic English village mystery.
January 24, 2015
Once again the duo solve mysteries in an English village. Meredith finds out clues that Alan, as a police inspector, is not privy to. The couple move to the country to escape the animal rights groups who are bothering them. And then a body is found.
July 28, 2011
Delightful English countryside mystery. Very well written - I didn't figure it out until the very end!
Read
July 29, 2011another winner. how does she keep it up? i thought this was one of the best so far, and it seems like i say that with each successive book.
July 10, 2013
a bit different from the usual, and very good
January 6, 2014
Ok. Pretty much the same as the previous books.
February 10, 2014
Readable but run of the mill mystery novel lifted by a vein of dry humour running through it.
October 4, 2014
Another great book about Markby and Mitchell. I liked that (even though one person died), it's mostly about attempted murder.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2016
English police procedural cozy for fans of the genre. this is a good read.
July 8, 2012
Could not get into this Mitchell and Markby book at all. Just not interested in the characters.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews