Annie’S Haunting Memoirs and the Abc Detective Agency

By Joy Reid and Sue Millar-Smith

This is the third book in the Annie Butcher series following on from Annie Butchers Jigsaw and Annie Tries Not To and Annies Case Book. Annies Haunting Memoirs again has several stories in one book. Annie Butcher has a knack for taking seemingly unrelated events and fitting them together, and usually solving a crime along the way. Joy Reid uses the same characters in this sequel involving family and friends.

In Annies Haunting Memoirs, Lance inherits a very large old house and decides to move in with the family. Annie joins them in a nearby cottage. During construction work, bodies are found, and Annie is again caught up in the mystery whilst trying very hard not to get involved! Clues drop onto her lap! The mystery gets clearer when she becomes a target for the gang, and she has to lie low for a while. Her friend and ally, Chief Inspector Neil LaCoste, is again concerned for her safety.

Finally giving way to destiny, she forms her own detective agency when she unravels some rather unusual cases and makes some people very happy. With Neils help, will she manage to solve the mystery that had been haunting the nearby village?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Mar 23, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466914100

Joy Reid

A teacher of Biology, Joy Reid travelled widely but has now retired to a cottage in Dorset, England. This is her sixth book; the third in the 'Annie' series, others include travel books to India and Africa under her pen name 'Joy Viney' and a pictorial children's book.

Book preview

Annie’s

Haunting Memoirs and

The ABC

Detective Agency

J o y R e i d

Illustrations by Sue Millar-Smith

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© Copyright 2012 Joy Reid.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4669-1409-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4669-1410-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012902697

Trafford rev. 03/19/2012

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Contents

ANNIE’S ‘HAUNTING’ MEMOIRS

CHARACTERS

CHAPTER 1 LANCE’S LEGACY

CHAPTER 2 THE PICNIC

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4 FIVE PEOPLE

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

THE ABC DETECTIVE AGENCY

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3 THE CASE OF THE LOST TEDDY BEAR

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5 THE CASE OF THE SCHOOL EQUIPMENT

CHAPTER 6

To all my family with love

ANNIE’S

‘HAUNTING’ MEMOIRS

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Joy Reid

CHARACTERS

Annie Butcher   Teacher of Biology at the ‘George Pound’ School

Sally Butcher   Annie’s daughter

Bob   Sally’s partner

Maggie Hurst   Head of the George Pound School

Lance Hurst   Maggie’s husband

Philip   }

Jane   }   the Hurst children

Pat   }

Sam   }

Dudley Russell   }   old friends of Annie

Rose Russell   }

Alf   an old man who once lived opposite to Annie

Bert   a plumber

Kevin   Bert’s son and still at school

Clare    an old-fashioned matron of the local hospital

John Watson    Clare’s admirer

Neil LaCoste    Chief Inspector of Police in charge of investigation of International gang and admirer of Annie

Inspector David (and wife Eileen)    due for retirement shortly

Sergeant Tracy Williams    Rough and ready police sergeant, rides a motorbike

‘Toy Boy’    A mysterious stranger lodging in the village

chapter1.jpg

CHAPTER 1

LANCE’S LEGACY

"Y OU LOOK PATHETIC HOBBLING DOWN the drive

with that stick, said Maggie Hurst, Head of the George Pound School, to her friend Annie Butcher. And what’s more it gets in the way in the car. When are you getting your new one?"

Stick or car? answered Annie. She had already ordered the new car ‘and about time’ she thought. The new automatic car would be perfect for a disabled driver, her broken leg was mending, she would not be disabled for much longer and no longer have to listen to Maggie in a bad mood (this was unusual so what was up?) She kept silent and waited.

Sorry, said Maggie, I’ve a bit of a problem—it’s Lance.

It would be Lance, thought Annie, it always was. Maggie’s husband was Head of Music at the College. So much was going on in the educational world; there had even been a suggestion that the College might gain the status of a University. Certainly the George Pound might well be called an ‘Academy’. But all these problems would be discussed in school whereas home problems . . . Annie sighed. Lance didn’t mean to be trouble but he always was a bit of an enigma.

Come to supper, said Maggie. You can hobble that far, then I can tell you at leisure. I need your wisdom.

Great, I’ll come, replied Annie. Whose turn is it to cook? But Maggie had already started on the story.

I’ll tell you more tonight, she said as she dropped Annie off at The Lilacs. Come early, she said.

Annie did and heard the story again from Maggie.

It was at breakfast when Lance had opened an official looking envelope. He gave a startled exclamation. Would you believe it, he then said.

What? asked Maggie.

Anything up, Pa? asked Jane.

Would you believe it, Lance repeated. Great Uncle George has left me a house. Comments came quick and fast, a house? The children were fascinated.

Who is Great Uncle George?

Why?

Where is it?

Why you?

I never knew we had a great Uncle George.

Great, Great Uncle to you, Dummy!

Can we see it?

Breakfast time during the term was not a time for long discussions so Lance, getting up, said, It’s called Greenwood Manor, not too far away. He probably left it to me as all other relatives are miles away, some in New Zealand. I expect he thought we could deal with it. We’ll go and see it on Saturday—oh, that’s tomorrow—right? How much was true?

He kissed his wife ‘goodbye’ and was off.

So, said Maggie to Annie, you know as much as I do. Can you join us tomorrow? I’ll pick you up."

Annie was interested enough to say yes but she was full of her own news and no longer needed lifts for her new car had come. She was independent once more. She would be at Greenwood Manor on Saturday, but driving herself.

When Annie had been house hunting she had become fairly well acquainted with the local countryside and its houses but she was surprised at the size and beauty of Greenwood Manor when she was viewing it in a less detached way. Also it was not so far out as she had remembered. Lance was stressing this angle and Maggie had confessed to Annie that Lance had the ridiculous idea of their moving to it. One thing was absolutely sure,