An Unfinished Murder

Campbell and Carter Mystery #6

by Ann Granger

AN UNFINISHED MURDER is the sixth Cotswold village crime novel in Ann Granger's Campbell and Carter series. Sure to appeal to fans of Midsomer Murders and M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin mysteries.

Mitchell and Markby come out of retirement to crack a cold case...

As young children, Josh Browning and his sister, Dilys, stumbled across a dead body while playing on the outskirts of their Cotswold village. Terrified by what they'd seen, neither of them told a soul. Now, twenty years later, Josh finds the dead woman's charm bracelet among his sister's possessions.

Who better to tell than his trusted friend, the man he gardens for, retired Superintendent Alan Markby? As Markby listens to Josh's confession, alarm bells start to ring. The dates and details tie in with a missing person case that was never solved.

Joining forces with Superintendent Ian Carter, who also investigated the original case, and Inspector Jess Campbell, from the region where the missing girl was last seen, Markby delves into the unsolved mystery. Together, they are determined to catch a clever killer who almost got away with murder...

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, Fiction, Cozy, Contemporary, Procedural

320 pages, Paperback

Published February 19, 2019

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

[Gitti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Markby und seine Frau Meredith haben es sich in ihrem Ruhestand eingerichtet. Sie schreibt Krimis, er gärtnert, so wie er es immer geplant hat. Eines Tages erzählt ihm sein Helfer Josh, dass er mit seiner Schwester als Kind eine Leiche gefunden hat, dies aber nie gemeldet hat. Als Beweis hat er ein Armband, das seine Schwester der Leiche entwendet hatte. Markby erkennt schnell, dass das Opfer Teil eines Falles war, den er nie abschließen konnte. Er gibt die Informationen an die ehemaligen Kollegen in Bamford weiter und sorgt dafür, dass der Fall wieder neu aufgerollt wird. Ebenfalls beteiligt war damals an dem Fall Ian Carter, der nun Superintendent ist und auch er möchte diesen Fall lösen. Zusammen mit Jess Campbell macht er sich in Gloucestershire daran, den Informationen noch einmal nachzugehen.

Ich fand es schön Alan Markby und seiner Frau noch einmal wieder zu begegnen. Sozusagen einen kleinen Blick in ihr Leben im Ruhestand werfen zu können. Markby ist eigentlich zufrieden, allerdings juckt es ihn doch sehr, bei den Ermittlungen mit zu helfen. Ian Carter ist dagegen nicht sehr begeistert, hat der alte Fall doch das Gefühl des Versagens bei ihm hinterlassen. Da ist es gut, dass Jess Campbell ihn immer wieder aufbaut und motiviert. Den Handlungstrang um die beiden fand ich auch sehr interessant, ich bin da schon auf weitere Bände mit den beiden gespannt.

Der Fall an sich ist recht kniffelig und ich habe lange im Dunkeln getappt, was da wohl passiert sein mochte. Das Ende war dann aber absolut schlüssig und in sich komplett.

Mir hat das Buch viel Vergnügen bereitet. Es ist ein typischer englischer Krimi mit Wohlfühlfaktor. Es war spannend und gleichzeitig auch einfach schön in das englische Leben einzutauchen. Ann Granger ist einfach ein Garant für tolle englische Krimis. Und die Cover der Reihe sind einfach grandios!

Von mir daher eine Leseempfehlung!

[Valerie Campbell Ackroyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this book, a quintessentially cozy English murder mystery, modern village life and so on. However, what brought my rating down to three stars is that the cold case murder around which the book is written was so sloppily investigated in the first place. It surprised me to see that two Detective Inspectors (the retired Markby and the currently employed Carter) dropped a case twenty years before of a missing young woman and didn’t follow up on her background; what was going on with her at the time she disappeared.
I haven’t read Granger’s series before, either Markby and Mitchell or Campbell and Carter, so I am perversely now going to look for them in the library and read a few to see if this is commonplace—that the Detective Inspectors aren’t actually that good at investigating—or whether this was unusual.
As I said, I did enjoy reading the book, it’s a good English cozy.

[Elite Group · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cold case police procedural

This is the sixth in the popular Campbell and Carter mystery series, and it brings
ex- Superintendent Alan Markby out of retirement.

Disturbed youngsters Josh and Dilys Browning have been sent out for a walk by their foster mother, ‘Auntie’ Nina Pengelly, when they find the body of a young girl in a spinney below their row of houses. They tell no-one until twenty years later, when the introverted Josh, now helping Markby in the garden, decides to tell Markby about it.

As he must, Markby reports Josh’s story to Inspector Barker of Bamford police; twenty years ago, Bamford assisted Gloucestershire police in the search for the missing teenager,
Rebecca Hellington, who apparently left college to visit her parents in Bamford, but never arrived. She was never found, and so the case is filed under ‘cold cases’.

Superintendent Ian Carter, who worked on the original case and Inspector Jess Campbell of Gloucestershire police, are assigned to find out whether there is a body buried in the spinney, and if so to identify it.

This is one of those rural police mysteries where you feel in comfortingly safe hands as the investigation continues to its logical end. There are interesting characters aplenty as well as a well-constructed plot and a sprinkling of misdirection.

The conclusion is satisfyingly conclusive.

Pashtpaws

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

[Suzy Dominey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comfort reading

[Svenja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series doesn’t disappoint. I’m not a fan of Mitchell and Markby but of Campbell and Carter and luckily they’re doing most of the work. Maybe I should give M&M another chance?

[Audrey Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome back Alan and Meredith! Joining forces with Jess Campbell and Ian Carter, retired Superintendent Alan Markby becomes involved in a missing persons case he was unable to solve 20 years earlier. Miss this kind of police investigational procedural written by Ann Granger and her contemporaries.

[H. Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable romp!

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of this series from the beginning and enjoy the Cotswold world of Campbell and Carter. In this novel we are introduced (or for those who have read her previous series, reintroduced) to Markby a now retired officer who gets involved with an unsolved case from his time on the force. Ann Granger tells us in the introductory pages that she is satisfying those readers who wanted another outing for this detective, as a result he really takes centre stage and we lose much of the dynamic between Campbell and Carter and I do look forward to their return instead of being an adjunct to the Markby story. That said he is an interesting character and I will probably now go back to seek out the Mitchell and Markby series - as though my TBR pile was not big enough already!! The story here looks at the difficulties in investigating cold cases and the ongoing difficulties experienced by those tied up in it. The story is well told and the characters well formed, the plot is believable and whilst compared to the likes of M C Beaton this book has a little more substance than those stories.
#AnUnfinishedMurder:campbell&carterMystery6 #NetGalley

[C.G.Koens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Totally Different with Lots of Players

The newest Campbell and Carter mystery brings old players (Markby and Meredith) back into the thick of things, and keeps it interesting. A 20 year murder is finally solved.

I originally gave it four stars, but reduced to three for two reasons... SPOILER ALERT!!

1) No real resolution for Nick (does he go to prison, what happens to Cassie and the kids and the nanny?)...

2) Carter and Jess move no further towards a relationship and it's starting to get a little old.

Otherwise, this is a solid mystery and I'd definitely give it a thumbs up recommendation for a library pick (or a $1.99 Kindle) at a minimum. And I'll read the next book when it comes out, which proves that the series is improving from where it started.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like a good crime novel as much as the next person, but this one just didn’t grab me. Josh, a recalcitrant local handyman, suddenly tells his neighbour, retired police inspector Alan Markby, about a body he found with his sister, twenty years ago. Thus resumes the search for missing Rebecca, and for her killer. It’s a reasonable premise for a mystery but it’s all a little too convenient: Markby’s wife stumbles across vital information while wandering through a graveyard, his colleague happens to spot the previous prime suspect in a restaurant: I didn’t find it believable.

[Ivan Dachs Hladík · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nedokončená vražda není nasáklá krví, spíše tradicí britské detektivky

Dvacet let starý zločin. Sešlí vyšetřovatelé a šestá akce inspektorky Jess Campbellové a komisaře Iana Cartera. I to je Nedokončená vražda spisovatelky Ann Grangerové, autorky s citem pro postavy i tradičně dobrou anglickou detektivku.

Alan Markby za svou policejní kariéru dokázal odhalit hodně případů. Ale některé také zůstaly bez odpovědí. Jedním z nich je dvě desítky let starý případ pohřešované Rebeccy Hellingtonové, která odjela na víkend navštívit rodiče, a od té doby ji nikdo neviděl. Když se k Markbymu dostane informace, která vrhá na její zmizení docela nové světlo, roztáčí se tím kolotoč událostí, které ovlivní život nejen Markbymu a jeho ženě Meredith, ale také komisaři Carterovi a inspektorce Campbellové, kteří se na vyšetřování případu podílejí. Kam Rebecca před dvaceti lety odjela? Co se jí stalo? A proč se nové důkazy vynořují až po tak dlouhé době?

Hned v úvodu je třeba si říct, komu je kniha Ann Grangerové určena a kdy je dobré ji otevřít. Je pro všechny, kdo mají rádi poklidné rozplétání záhad, kdo rádi vidí „za“ hlavní příběh a do životů jeho aktérů. Je pro chvíle, kdy si chcete jako čtenář odpočinout od knih, z nichž tryská krev proudem a brutální násilí je obsahem každé druhé věty. Nedokončená vražda vás odmění nádechem ‚christieovské‘ klasiky, esencí ryzí anglické detektivky jemně vložené do stránek, kterým však nechybí napětí a chuť se do nich ponořit. Natolik, že dvojici Jess Campbellová a Ian Carter budete chtít vzít pod svou střechu, do své knihovny, a poznat i jejich další případy.

Překlad knihy má na svědomí Petra Procházková a hned navazuje dalším dílem stejné autorky, tentokrát z viktoriánské éry, s názvem Nezvyklý zájem o mrtvoly. Zůstaňme ale ještě v současnosti, kdy máme možnost pozvolna překonávat drobné i výraznější momenty vedoucí k odhalení Nedokončené vraždy. Daří se to i díky skvěle vykresleným postavám a prostředí, zcela ve službách vyprávění. Grangerová rozhodně ví, jakou hru má se čtenářem rozehrát, aby jej zaujala. Pokud je kniha vaším prvním setkáním s její tvorbou, můžete si být jisti, že je to zároveň začátek nového knižního přátelství, jemuž rádi propadnete.

Hodnocení: 80 %

[Giulia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another day, another meh. I always thought that mystery novels were always an easy win but clearly I was wrong.

Once again, characters are as cliché as it gets including, you guessed it, a colourful foreign Eastern European nanny. The story is implausible, the villain is a stereotypical moustache twirling monster, the cops...do they even do anything? The suspects revealed it all by themselves. The word "truculent" is repeated way too often. This is not an American tv show so why is there the trite joke of canteen food being bad and characters buying their meals and leaving them untouched?

Finishing off with three ~~honourable mentions: 1) Dylis (or was it someone else? I already forgot) "would have been pretty if it wasn't for the tattoos" 2) whatshisname police officer is of course compared to a pig because he is overweight. As someone who would never abandon her canteen-bought meal because we ain't about waste here, I take offence at the fact that the only worthy characters are ~*~skinny legends with luscious hair 3) At the end of the book even the proofreader gave up and let slip the misspelling of Tania Morris' name, who ironically enough was mentioned three times in the one page.

[Eva Francova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dvacet let starý případ ztracené dívky se nyní znovu otevírá. Jak je možné, že se na světlo nyní dostanou nové důkazy? A co se vlastně tenkrát všechno stalo? Do vyšetřování se pustí detektiv v důchodu Alan Markby a roztáčí se nový kolotoč vyšetřování.

Tahle typická anglická detektivka mě dost bavila. Děj hezky plynul, není tu moc zbytečné „omáčky“ kolem, má to spád a vy se chcete dozvědět, jak to vlastně tenkrát bylo. Ač jsem odhadla vraha i motiv, i tak mě to nutilo číst dál a potřebovala jsem vědět, jak se to vlastně celé stalo. Bylo to natolik čtivé, že jsem celou knížku přečetla za jediný den a neměla jsem potřebu ji odložit.

Toto je moje první kniha od autorky, ale kdo ji zná, ví, že hlavní postavy se vyskytují v jejích předchozích knihách. Ničemu to však nevadilo a tuto knihu si můžete přečíst i bez znalosti minulých dílů.

Určitě doporučuji všem, kteří nemají rádi velké krváky a nechutné popisy obětí. V této knize je toho pomálu a soustředí se zde hlavně na vyšetřování.

Co mi ale hodně vadilo, je opravdu velké množství překlepů. Klidně dva v jedné větě. Vím, že se to stane, ale tady toho bylo až moc.

Celkově tedy příjemná detektivka, která se opravdu velmi dobře četla. Jako odpočinkové čtení rozhodně můžu doporučit.

[San · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5/5) Continuing my journey of reading all the Campbell and Carter mysteries, I have to say the 6th in the series is probably one of my favourites. I couldn't put it down! This book introduced Mitchell and Markby and I can say that their characters were explained enough that even I, as someone who hasn't read their series also by Granger, didn't feel lost. Granger did a wonderful job fleshing out the mystery both from 20 years ago when it first happened to the events in the time of the book when it was brought to the surface again. I think what really struck me about this mystery was that I didn't expect the murder to be hidden in such plain sight. The reason behind it was so obvious in retrospect but I thought surely that wouldn't be why. I think the lack of remorse on the killer's part and how it was done also got to me. Maybe I'm forgetting the previous books I read in this series but the "silliness" of the reason and the cruelty through which the victim was killed stuck out to me as different than other plot lines in this series.

[Karen M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this - or find it was one of those irritatingly named ‘ cosy murders’ so stupid as if death is ever cosy. But, as I started reading I found I was enjoying it Markby is narked by retirement and rather keen to look back on a cold case linked to his home , involving the disappearance twenty years previously of a student teacher.
The characters are well drawn - except I feel for a certain lack of sympathy / empathy for the murdered student standing on the edge of a group of sneering yahs. Having said that as the suspects are unearthed they form a wide cross section of society and are realistically depicted. The downside to this was that it was quite easy to see who the suspect was - and even easier to see how the police systems of twenty years earlier and spread over different forces were misled.
The plot unfolds , as plots do, and the pieces fall neatly together in a very pleasing way. Heroines are revealed and even Dilys has a glimmer of a future.
I’m minded to look up the Victorian set Ben Ross books next.

[Jill Stirling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do like this writer. I loved the Mitchell and Markby series and have enjoyed the Campbell and Carter series. To have them together is an interesting exercise given the distance between the them. Not a short distance when one considers how crowded the roads are in Britain. An interesting plot with very engaging characters. The end came fairly suddenly after the suicide of one of the characters and the seemingly incredible powers of detection from the detectives in question. I worked out the story early on but the books seemed to consist of the main characters floundering around not knowing which way was up. A bit more time spent developing the story line would have been more believable. Not sure if this combination is a winner. It seemed a bit contrived as the separate ends of the investigation developed. Markby is as grumpy ever and Campbell as conflicted.
Ian Rankin seem to have been able to bring together his two characters of Rebus and Fox but Siobhan is the glue that makes that work. I will be watching with interest to see how this series continues to develop.

[Jonathan Gurney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not much impressed. The plot centres around the discovery of the body of a woman who had disappeared twenty years earlier. It is found after a man who had seen the body twenty years ago when he was aged ten and had keep quiet about it for childish reasons finally reports what he saw.

There is very little actual detective skill involved in finding the truth, which mainly emerges through confessions by people who had not been serious suspects and were not implicated by any available evidence.

The solution itself is also unsatisfactory and implausible. First it involves three adult witnesses having kept quiet at the time and ever since, two for no sensible reasons at all, as well as the children involved (for whom irrational and irresponsible behaviour is more credible). Second, the body came to be where it was, and the initial delayed witness report finally came to be made, through ludicrously improbable series of events.

[Jane Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable murder mystery with realistic characters, lots of misinformation and a murderer who thought they'd committed the perfect murder.

I've not read any of this series before, or the Mitchell and Markby mysteries, but the main characters are easy to empathise. As this mystery reopens a cold case of a missing person from two decades previously, the reintroduction of the Mitchel and Markby characters adds depth to the mystery. It brings past events into real-time maintaining the story's pacing while providing necessary clues to solve the mystery.

The story is simple but by the final chapters, the number of suspects grows, and the ending has some clever twists. I read this in an afternoon and its perfect Summer reading. I look forward to reading another in this mystery series.

I received a copy of this book from Headline via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

[Amanda Lavelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kindly received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
I really enjoy this series and it was good to catch up with these characters again. Ann Granger brings in 2 other characters from a previous series- Mitchell and Markby. I have not at this point read the previous series, but I didn't feel that distracted from enjoying or following this book. However, I do feel that some of the character and plot development from the previous books in this series stalled somewhat as the focus was more on these re-introduced characters rather than Campbell and Carter. It did not ruin the story for me, although I would have preferred more continuity.
Anne granger's writing is entertaining and she always keeps me turning the page. I will certainly be looking forward to the next book.

[Verity W · Rating 4 out of 5]

*******copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review ******

I really enjoyed this - the mystery is good, the solution clever (albeit somewhat obvious) and it’s lovely to see Mitchell and Markby again. To be honest this would probably have been a three star read without that tie-in, but it was so nice to see them back again that it made me rate the book higher! I haven’t read many of the Campbell and Carter series, this is sees a few incremental moves in their relationship, but they’re only small and (wisely imho) the return of the two Ms gets most of the off-murder action. Fun and rewarding for long time fans.

[Fran Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read two other Campbell and Carter mysteries, which I enjoyed, this one was very disappointing. It is about a cold case from twenty years ago that is revisited due to new information. I felt that the relationships of the detectives in this book were just forgettable, there was no spark. I didn’t buy into the behaviour of the nanny either, it was all too convenient. There seemed to be something comedic about the murders especially the second one, I felt that it was told with a shrug. Nothing felt well developed and we bounced from one thing to the next with little emotion. I will be reading more from Ann Granger though.

[Beirut27 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feared the worst : a dozen years' gap or so between the latest in the series and this novel, wasn't it going to feel contrived, clumsy ? Actually it is probably the best of the Markby and Mitchell books and I highly recommend it.

Gripping plot, impressionistic and convincing characterization, crisp dialogues, flawless narrative, delightful descriptive parts. It is almost perfect and in all fairness it does deserve more than four stars. But I reserve five stars to my 'cult' books, the ones I have read many times and will read again with the same undiluted pleasure : A Fatal Inversion, Murder Every Monday, Appleby's End and a few more.

[Emy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book that I have read in this series. Despite not having read the previous Campbell and Carter tales, I really enjoyed these characters. In particular, I enjoyed that they were older, lead by a Retired Markby. It made a pleasant change from many of this genre having a lead character who is young.
The plot was well developed and moved at a good pace, keeping the reader engaged and interested. Having read this book I am keen to try some of this author's other work.
I received an advanced copy which I choose to leave a review for.

[Christina McLain · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was the story of the disappearance of a young girl whose body is seen by a pair of orphans, a young boy and his disturbed sister, who are too afraid to report the death. The corpse is later taken away and it is only because of a chance confession by the boy who is now an adult to his ex-policeman boss boss, that the search for justice begins. It was an okay book but not extraordinary in any way, the kind of novel you might want to read at the beach or on a rainy afternoon. Not bad but not memorable either.

[Kay Naden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Ann Grangers work, I came to her via the Ben Ross series of books which I thoroughly enjoy, but I have now read all the Campbell and Carter books as well. Unfinished Murder lives up to her usual standard with great characters and good plot with the inevitable twist. I thoroughly enjoyed the introduction of Alan Markby and Meredith Mitchell this has piqued my interest in their past cases and I am now set to hunt out all of their series and read them.

[Petra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book quite a lot, I really didn't see coming the plot twist near the end. But a muh as I liked the different points of view, I admit that there were too many for my taste. Because there were several of them and the story was pretty fast-paced, I had trouble really getting into it or being really interested in the characters. Sure, I wanted to know what happened and Granger wrote that part very well, but I just wasn't invested in the story as much as I would like to.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the weaker entries in the series. The characters continue to be tiresomely whiny and needy, and, in the case of the cops, judgmental. The plot is not very believable. The murders are not so much solved as the murderers just suddenly decide to reveal themselves. This one is a crossover to an earlier series Granger wrote; can't say I'm any more impressed with those characters than I am with these. I might go ahead and finish off the series. The plots are usually better than this one.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so much better than the previous book in the series. I'd almost decided not to bother with any more, but this turned up on my hold list from the library, so I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. It may have been because Alan & Meredith from the Markby & Mitchell series are also in it, and I loved that series. The plot was much stronger and there were a number of clever twists.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tad disappointed.

The mystery was an amazing cold case with a several unique twists. However, this was my least favorite... the author brought in characters from another series who I didn't know as I have not read it and who I really had nor developed no connection with. If you read her other mystery series than you will probably be delighted.

Where's book seven?

3 stars

[Kelly Callaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Markby has retired and he is working in his garden with Josh. Josh tells him how he and his sister found a body and his sister took a bracelet, that Josh has just found. The bracelet belongs to Rebecca, who disappeared 20 years ago. Markby reports the find, the body is discovered and he participates in the investigation.