Burley, William J. in The Books Store

Simon Meagor is a lonely middle-aged man. With a broken marriage behind him, his life centers solely on his antiquarian bookshop. Still haunted by the memory of a suicide he feels responsible for, Simon’s horror only multiplies when Morwenna, the daughter of that man who committed suicide, applies for a job in his shop. Mesmerized by her, Simon finds himself agreeing to her employment. Cleverly, over a period of time, Morwenna manipulates herself into his work, his life, and finally into his room above the shop. And then she disappears. When her body is discovered in a flooded quarry, suicide is considered since Morwenna was suffering from a fatal disease. Inevitably, however, suspicion falls on Simon Meagor. Wycliffe becomes intrigued and increasingly disturbed by this new and shocking case, which grows more and more complicated as he delves even deeper into a dark and murky past.

When Cedric Tremain is charged with murdering his father by boobytrapping his fishing boat, all the locals agree that he is an unlikely murderer. But the case against him is strong: he has the motive, the opportunity, and the know-how, not to mention the hard circumstantial evidence. Cedric is soon arrested, but Chief Superintendent Wycliffe has a strong sense that something about the case just doesn't fit. As he quietly continues his investigation, a confusing picture emerges. Twenty years ago, Cedric's cousin was convicted of strangling his girlfriend and served 14 years of a commuted death sentence. When the wheels of justice begin to grind, Wycliffe must search for a link between past and present.

The peace of the village of Kergwyns has been shattered by a bizarre murder. A young woman has been shot. The only thing taken from a scene is the shoe and stocking from her left leg…exposing her deformed foot. Wycliffe uncovers evidence of an unhappy woman who routinely manipulated the men in her life. As half the men in the village have been known to visit her, and most have reason to lie about it, finding the murderer will not be easy. Wycliffe's task is complicated by the discovery of some clues in the form of crossword puzzles left by the victim herself. If Pussy Welles knew she was going to die, why did she make no effort to save herself?