That Way Murder Lies

Mitchell and Markby #15

by Ann Granger

When Meredith Mitchell's old friend Toby Smythe turns up on leave, she is delighted to see him. But Toby has a problem - or rather his relative Alison Jenner has - and he wants to enlist the help of Meredith's fiance, Detective Superintendent Alan Markby. Alison has been receiving anonymous hate mail which alludes to the murder of her aunt, Freda Kemp, of which Alison was acquitted when she was just twenty. Who is the writer, and how does he or she know about this secret in Alison's past? Markby is at first reluctant to become involved, especially as he and Meredith are busy planning their wedding, but enquiries into a poison pen campaign soon turn into a murder hunt. With the help of Inspector Jessica Campbell, a new member of Markby's team, the investigation unravels a twenty-five-year-old mystery and its dreadful legacy of violence.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, British Literature, Audiobook, Detective, Fiction, Modern

374 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Ann 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.

Reviews

[Kavita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Midway between old-world detective story and a police procedural, That Way Murder Lies is about average. The police in this book is Alan Markby, a dour man who hates people at random without any reason. His fiancee, Meredith Mitchell works in a consulate. Her friend from the consulate is Toby Smythe, who turns up with a mystery to solve, and Meredith convinces Alan to look into it.

I really liked the scope of the mystery. Toby's cousin's wife, Alison, was acquitted for a murder when she was in her early twenties. She begins to receive anonymous hate notes. When another murder takes place in exactly the same way, the stage is set. The idea was intriguing and I enjoyed the long moments when I wondered about the years-old mystery and whether Alison was guilty or not.

However, I did not really like Markby and his aversion to Toby was completely weird. He just sounded like a jerk every time he began to degrade Toby for whatever he did. I also found it completely useless for Meredith to be kidnapped by the murderer, just so that Alan could rescue her. In this story, it just came out of the blue and made no sense at all. Please let's change the trope already. Some of the characters were interesting, though I wish more time was given to the real murderer. Concentrating on Meredith, Alan and Toby was a huge mistake as they were the most colourless characters around. A new female inspector introduced out of nowhere and fulfilling no discernible purpose also did not add to the story.

Suspense was good and maintained till the end. In short, this is just an average mystery and nothing much to recommend it, but I won't actively suggest against reading it.

[Eugene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Final (?) of the 15 estimable books in this series, I’ve now read all and found the entire series very satisfying. Granger is a good writer, and has a few other series I can now look at, including several featuring Inspector Jess (Jessica) Campbell whom we meet for the first in this last book featuring Detective Superintendent Alan Markby.
Here, Meredith Mitchell, Markby’s fiance, is contacted by an old chum from her career in the diplomatic service, Toby Smythe. Smythe wants help, but for his cousin Jeremy and Jeremy’s wife Alison; she’s begun receiving anonymous threatening letters and is quite upset. Neither Alan nor Meredith is so inclined as they’re busy planning their wedding, but then there is a death, quite surely a murder, and DS Markby is inevitably involved in that. Are these two things connected, and if so, how?
As always, the story moves apace and the reader is impelled to keep turning to the next page. Every book in these Mitchell and Markby tales has been a good read, and I’m sad to have reached the end of them.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Undemanding, but nice to read.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one.

[Lynne Gosbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read the previous book in the series after a gap of many years I decided to read this one, the last before a gap of 20 years (a final book was written in 2022). An enjoyable addition to the series, nothing earth shattering but comfortable and comforting in equal measures - a nostalgic read.

[Gary Van Cott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the final Mitchell and Markby mystery from Granger. The blub on the cover of the books describes the series as a blend of the cozy Mystery and the police procedural and I think that is a fair description.

I don't think this book brings the series to a conclusion. Perhaps the author just ran out of steam. Especially as it can't have been easy to think of ways to get Mitchell involved in investiations. She was 65 when this was published but she has written other books since then.

I have have been thinking hard to figure out why I don't like these books more. I think it is because the main characters (Meridith Mitchell and Alan Markby) are not very interesting. They are relatively bland and there is very little development of their characters over a long series of 15 books. I think there were a number of ways the author could have made them more interesting. She could have made more of Markby's interest in gardening, and given a larger role in the series to his sister (a lawyer), her husband (a TV? cooking show host) and their children. She could have made use of Mitchell's (and her own) experience as consular official.

Five years after this book Granger published a new book Mud, Muck and Dead Things which features DI Jessica (Jess) Campbell who was introduced in That Way Murder Lies. There is a bit about Markby and Mitchell in the book. They are now married. Campbell had hoped to buy Mitchell's house but they needed it until remodeling of their future home was completed. So Campbell transferred to another location in the Cotswolds where she could find some place to live.

[Sarah Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself wasn't bad and was a standard mystery. The thing that bothered me throughout this book was how old fashioned it seemed even though it is only from the early 2000s. The narrative voice and the characters im particlar all seemed very dated, and there were some stereotypical, old fashioned comments about women which seemed a bit unnecessary. And some bits just downright weird like the thought of marrying a cousin just because she's 20 and unmarried.
Overall, not awful - a standard mystery book but I wouldn't read it again.

[Susie · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK. Easy to read. The annoying part: nobody has a clue what's going on, and then suddenly everybody knows.

[Carolyn Rector · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last in the series was a good read. Meredith has a friend in the consul who is on leave. Toby has a friend who is receiving poison letters taunting her about a murder case 25 years old. He wants Meredith to ask her copper friend, Markby to see what he can do about the investigation. Quickly the couple find their daughter murdered, can there be a connection? All this takes place in the quiet English village of Bamford, where Meredith and Alan Markby are planning their wedding. Good example of police procedural and amateur detective. Don't like to see this series end, but Ann Granger has written more English village mysteries.

[Martina Kovaříková · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read better books from Ann Granger, but this was not bad either. I guess bit of my unease came from the fact that this slightly combines Markby and Mitchell, as well as Cambell, which based on my parents comment, replaces Markby and Mitchel pair eventually.
However I have to say the story was catching and I did not have any chance to guess who actually was the murdered. I am actually not sure if it is even possible in this book? In some other yes, but in this one, I have some doubts about it.

[Wendy Hearder-moan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might not have picked this up if I had realized it was the last book in a series. I found it engaging enough to hold my interest for a couple of evenings’ reading, but was not so bowled over that I feel the need to go back and read the previous books in the series. And for me, that’s damning with faint praise.

[Cirrus Minor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das war es nun also mit Mitchell und Markby. Auch der abschließende Fall folgt dem üblichen Muster. Über die Beziehungen der Charaktere könnte man sicher noch einige Bände schreiben, aber vermutlich ist es gut so, dass es nun endet.

[Lesley Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really wish there was another nook in this series, just to see the two main characters married and settled. It doesn't seem a complete series.

[H. Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good tale with enough twists and turns to satisfy

[Sarah "Kat" · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I like the UK settings.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the entire series! Thanks Ann Granger. Looking forward to Campbell and Carter series and listening to Judith Boyd

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done. Glad this is not the last one.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nenáročná anglická detektivka

[The Cruciverbalistic Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

As interesting as the protagonists are dull; this series has been quite an enjoyable ride so far

[Tariq · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book pretty engaging. Although I haven’t read any books previously by the same author. But this one had a pretty good story telling. Not just that, there were some pretty good humorous moments particularly between the lead pair Alan and Meredith and her close friend Tobi. They are looking into a matter where a lady is sent some poison letters about her past and her husband gets hold of them and asks them to help. I would have given 5 stars just deducted one because i kinda got the sense whose conspiracy it was but its not straightforward though. The clues and twists were pretty good I would say.

[Rhona Connor]

Another case solved.

This one also involves a cold case where the supposed murderer had been let off. Found not guilty. But poison pen letters were arriving, telling her they knew what she did. Asking for help from her husband's cousin Toby Smythe, he calls in Markby and Meredith.
Then, there is another murder and positioned exactly the same as previously. A new inspector has joined the regional squad. Jess Campbell. She'll have her own series. Campbell and Carter.
Toby wants to help solve the case but sometimes too eager.
I had a sneaking suspicion who had done it. I was right. Yay for me. But I don't like to solve them. I like them difficult.
But it all depends on how you process the information you read.
Enjoy.

[Shirley Schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is the last in the Mitchell and Markby series as it was released in 2004 and no new books in this series have come out since. That's not to say it's the last of Ann Granger's books or series, as she has many other series in her backlist. I must say I'm sorry to see the end of Meredith and Alan Markby. I have enjoyed them and their sleuthing as well as their rather complicated and prolonged love life. At the end of this book, they are happily looking forward to their marriage and to their new home at the old vicarage. But first they have to solve a crime that appears to start from poison pen letters and an old 25-year-old murder that was never solved. Markby is asked by Meredith to look into the letters that have been sent to Alison Jenner, but before they can get very far forward with that, one of the members of the Jenner household is found dead face down in their ornamental pond. It soon becomes apparent that the old case is still very much in someone's mind, Dirt has be dug up, hatchets have to be buried, and the police need to take a fresh look at an old case before this one can be closed. I'm going to miss the Village of Bamford, and I'm going to miss Meredith and Alan - two of the most likeable sleuths out there.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meredith Mitchell's old friend, Toby Smythe returns from a posting in Beijing and asks for her help in getting to the bottom of some poison pen letters his cousin's wife has been receiving. Really he wants her to talk to her fiancé - Superintendent Alan Markby about them. Meredith is reluctant to get involved but Toby is a friend - even if Alan doesn't particularly like him. But Alan is interested and agrees to have lunch with Toby's cousin and his wife.

Jeremy's wife, Alison, was tried for the murder of her aunt, Freda Kemp, and acquitted more than twenty years ago and she had thought the whole thing forgotten but it seems the anonymous letter writer is aware of her past and doesn't want to forget it. A new member of Markby's team - Inspect Jessica Campbell - is put in charge of the case when murder once more appears in Alison's life.

I enjoyed reading this well written story and completely failed to work out who was behind the murders. I thought the characters were believable and interesting and he book was well plotted. I liked Jessica Campbell as a character too and would like to see more of her. I can recommend this series and this book to anyone who likes their crimes novels without too much on the page violence and bad language.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good, solid English cozy/police procedural and a satisfying read. Yes, I caught the criminals about mid-way, but that in no way diminished my enjoyment of the story. The plot was strong, the characters, while somewhat mundane, are at least likeable and not annoying.
Overview: It is the Easter holidays and Meredith Mitchell's friend Toby has extended family troubles. It seems his cousin's wife is getting disturbing anonymous letters. The next thing you know, her step-daughter is murdered! The case winds its way from the Cotswolds to Cornwall and back. There are plenty of modern-day aspects to this book; although it is now well over 10 years old, it still holds up culturally. Some of the reasons behind the crimes are a bit thin, for instance, who cares about poison pen letters if one is innocent? But that sort of thing aside, like I said to begin with...a satisfying read, right down to the guardian goose!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so sorry that this is the last of the series. I read that the author hasn't completely ruled out another, but that she doesn't see where they can go. I can see lots of places! Both of them have talked about retiring and we didn't even get to see them married despite investing all of this time in the relationship. I'd love to read about their married life, I'd love to see Markby finally get his garden and I'd LOVE to see Meredith lose some of her prickliness!

[Andrea Sachs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very satisfactory mystery. Just enough mystery, and lots of character development. I like all the Granger books I've read so far. They aren't spectacular, but typical English mysteries, and good reads

[Verity W · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last in the Mitchell and Markby series, and I have to say, I was hoping for a bit more closure, but generally a good read, with a well thought through plot. I had my suspicions about how it was going to work out, but was had my eye on the wrong person for quite a while!

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The wedding is coming closer and closer in the series. By developing the characters, and how they accept things, Ann Granger is showing us a vignette of British life.

[VaughanPL]

Click here to find it in the catalogue.

[Sharneel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read. Calmly diverting. Really between a two and three.