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Forthright,drink-loving Inspector Vera Stanhope and her young sergeant Joe Ashworth investigate when 15-year-old Luke Armstrong is strangled and placed in a bath strewn with flowers and candles. Luke's widowed mother Julie tells them that Luke's friend Tommy accidentally drowned some months earlier and initial suspicion falls on Tommy's father. But then teacher Lily Marsh is murdered, also throttled and dumped on a beach, surrounded by flowers. The body is found by a group of botanists,including husband and wife Peter and Felicity Calvert,into whose beach house Lily was due to move,and Gary Wright,a womanising friend of Julie. Lily had a sugar daddy who paid money into her account and Vera learns that Tommy had photographed her with this man and had drowned trying to save his camera when it fell into the sea. She deduces that he is rubbing out evidence of the affair and believes the lover to be Peter Calvert. But was he the killer and,if not,was it a member of his adoring coterie?
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Vera's former colleague Stuart Macken kills himself after his house is fire-bombed,leaving his daughter Stella in a coma. Vera learns that Stuart never recovered from his wife Marianne leaving him for Brian Gower and had to be made subject to a restraining order. Given the two men's mutual antipathy Gower is Vera's prime suspect but then there are others,people he recently arrested. One is Stella's former school teacher and another may have been her older lover. Indeed Stella turns out to hold the key to everything. At the same time Vera's perceived bias toward Stuart leads to a run-in with constable Holly.
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Social worker Jenny Lister is murdered whilst out swimming. Two years earlier she had been exonerated following the case of Mattie Jones,who drowned her baby son whilst her colleague Connie Masters was blamed and her life ruined. Everybody speaks of Jenny as if she was perfect,arousing Vera's suspicions,especially when she learns that Jenny was writing a book about some of her cases,including Mattie,and her laptop,containing the draft,is stolen.Chief suspect is Mattie's ex-boyfriend ,osteopath Michael Morgan, but then Vera learns that Jenny was having a mysterious affair. Then the thief is murdered in the same way as Jenny and the laptop gives Vera the key to solving the case but also the task of preventing another death in a race against time.
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After Private Ollie Barton is blown up by a land-mine, his regiment, known as the Sandancers, returns home from Afghanistan and Vera and Joe are asked to investigate the suspicious death of Sergeant Dev, awarded the Military Cross for saving the rest of his men after Ollie's death. Military policewoman Shep is helpful but Vera finds most of the suspects, resenting civilian interference, literally closing ranks. Then the traumatized colleague who admits to Dev's murder and feels he caused Ollie's death is also found dead. In fact Ollie's fate and its effect on those who were closest to him play a key role in solving the case.
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Physiotherapist Lizzie Faulkner is shot dead whilst on a spa weekend in the country. Local lad Robert Doran was shooting badgers in the area but his bullets do not match the murder weapon. Joe nonetheless feels guilty upon meeting him as, eight years earlier, Joe had arrested Robert, who was imprisoned, Joe later believing he was innocent. Lizzie's weekend was a present from architect Corinne Franks though her husband Andrew and business partner Tim Hopkins refuse to believe the death was the result of local opposition to building a holiday village in the area. When Corinne is killed in a hit and run Vera realizes that she had been the intended victim all along and visits Justin Bishop, whose wife had died in a road crash some months earlier. Corinne had been the other driver and, though the coroner exonerated her from blame, Justin disagreed. Vera is intrigued to learn that Justin's schoolboy son Sam had been friends with Corinne behind his father's back and that she had bought him presents. Sam tells Vera Corinne had somebody else with her in the car on the day of the crash and this, coupled with Robert's description of a car he heard when Lizzie was murdered, leads Vera to the culprit. Written by don @ minifie-1
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On the eve of his retirement surgeon Dan Marsden is shot dead and his daughters Karen and Mira taken. His widow Laura tells Vera that Mira is an Iraqi war orphan on whom Dan operated before the couple adopted her. An iconic picture of her was taken by war photographer Jonah Regan, whom Vera visits and learns that Jonah had tried to adopt Mira but failed, due to the unstable behaviour that had caused his wife to leave him. New recruit Barry finds a link with Iraqi Malik, an illegal immigrant recently smuggled into the area. Karen is located and freed but Barry is killed and Laura wounded by the kidnapper who was returning for diabetic Mira's insulin. It becomes evident that the kidnapper is known to Mira and she is a willing abductee but Vera must stop them leaving the country and work out how he knew where to find her. Written by don @ minifie-1
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Gideon Frane plunges to his death in a lake, a human torch though it transpires that he was poisoned which drove him mad, accidentally immolating himself. An anonymous letter 'You Will Burn in Hell' leads to an ex-girlfriend Izzy following stalking complaints but, though her friend Kit admits to sending the letter, Vera eliminates him as a murder suspect. Gideon's former headmistress Vivienne Ripman tells Vera he was one of a group of 'golden lads and lasses' but an ex-girlfriend Amanda disappeared after a suicide attempt and another friend, Jamie, became a drug addict. Amanda contacts Vera to clear herself - she is now a nun at a convent whose head, Sister Benedict, has happy memories of teaching Vera. Jamie is located and is almost the victim of the same poison fed to Gideon. Vera notes that Colin Culvert, a teacher at Gideon's school, died in a car crash in 2007 and that Jamie, an heir to a fortune,has donated all his money to a charity researching spina bifida, a condition one of Colin's children has. Vera deduces that somebody close to Colin blamed Gideon and Jamie for his death and is exacting revenge. Written by don @ minifie-1
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A man is stabbed to death outside a pub, his identity initially unknown though his unregistered car contains six thousand pounds in the boot. He was John Warnock, a former policeman recently returned home from London and working at Finches, a local brewery owned by Sam Hooper, boyfriend of John's sister Maggie, on whose farm John was staying. John was something of a ladies' man and married old flame Lisa Strachan was planning to elope with him. Her husband Ross, a violent man who had previously been arrested by John, is charged with assaulting him but was stealing lead from a church roof at the time of the murder and has an alibi. Vera learns that John had been hired to spy on Finches on behalf of a national firm anxious for a take-over but had been fired when no adverse evidence could be found and this was not the source of the six grand. It becomes apparent that John was blackmailing somebody, who eventually killed him but Vera finds that she has more than one suspect to choose from. Written by don @ minifie-1
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Joe and his little girl Jessie are on a train when Jessie notices that another passenger, elderly Margaret Kraszewski, has been killed with a single stab wound. Vera visits the coastal town of Mardle, where Margaret lodged with singer Kate Darrow, her two children and boyfriend Stuart. They all praise Margaret as an almost saintly woman and are amazed that anybody would want to kill her. Margaret volunteered at a women's hostel and when Dee, an alcoholic prostitute who lived there, is also found dead Vera suspects a connection, especially as Margaret wanted to report something to the police just before she died. Pub landlady Valerie Furlow tells Vera that Margaret and Dee were good friends who once lived together in the same house on Harbour Street. She believes that Margaret's Polish husband was violent to her and, as he disappeared suddenly thirty years ago, Vera wonders if he was murdered. The chief beneficiary from Margaret's will proves to be Dee and Vera learns that years ago ...
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As his father Alan celebrates his retirement from the family property firm David Kenworthy is found murdered on a beach several miles away. An immediate suspect is arcade owner Larry Crowe, seen arguing with David and who hates the Kenworthy family since his son fell to his death from their roof over thirty years ago. However he has an alibi. David's girlfriend Nicky accused him of keeping secrets from her, leading Vera to believe David was going to a clandestine meeting with his killer. Then Lorna, his sister, who has been estranged from her father for decades, arrives with her husband for the funeral and, after Alan has died of a heart attack, she admits to Vera the reason for her rift with her father and the true nature of her relationship with David. This in turn leads to the killer and their motive.
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Shane Thurgood, recently returned from Newcastle to his native village, is found dead of a single gunshot wound, a mile away from a burnt out van belonging to local poacher Linus Campion. Campion points the finger at gamekeeper Allen Barnes, father of his ex-wife Vanessa and of Clara Peyton, who is married to wealthy estate owner Will. Shane had come home to sell his late grandfather's farm to the Peytons but pulled out at the last minute, as he had fallen back in love with the countryside where he grew up and where Allen taught him to shoot. Shane had also written a successful novel, based on his relationship with the Barnes sisters when they were young and Vera looks to it for clues as to a murder motive, especially after Vanessa had visited him the day before his death to warn him to stop stalking Clara. However the death proves to be anything but calculated and concerned less with romance than with a long-standing rural tradition.
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Haulage contractor John Shearwood's body is dragged from a river and the bruises on his knuckles suggest that his death was not suicide. Estranged wife Stella and brother Luke thought that he was in Dublin on business but customs investigator Owen Preece tells Vera that John was working on his behalf to expose a smuggling racket by John's manager Mark Donovan. Donovan however was not at the murder scene at the time of death though both Stella and Billy, John's teen-age son, a recovering drug addict were both in the vicinity. John was leading a double life with a girl-friend Gemma Makins though she turns out to be the mother of a young boy whom a drunken Billy once accidentally ran over and killed. But then Billy makes a startling confession which eventually leads Vera to solving the case.
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With Joe now promoted Vera and her new sergeant, Aiden Healy, investigate a fatal explosion at a caravan park which killed Deena Viner, sister of the park's owner Jim. Deena and her friend Sally had been part of the stag night party for Ryan, boyfriend of Jim's daughter Claire, and, after evidence that Sally had slept with Ryan, Claire tells Vera he was growing cannabis in the caravan that was destroyed. Sally and Ryan both benefit financially from Deena's death but Deena was also involved with Ryan's teen-aged brother Riley who has no alibi for the murder. The mystery deepens when Vera is told that Deena was killed and then placed in the caravan before it blew up. With the park in financial difficulties largely caused by Deena and a resentful resident in the trailer next door Vera has several likely suspects before she can solve the case.
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The pursuit of joy riders into woodlands unearths the skeleton of schoolgirl Carrie Telling, who went missing thirty years earlier. Her father Bill believes that at the time the police were more interested in confronting striking miners than searching for her and Vera accepts that there is no love of the police in the former pit village. Less the innocent daughter than Bill believed Carrie had apparently persuaded school-friend Michael Tennant, now a member of parliament, to steal a credit card from his boss Arjan Banerjee, possibly to fund an abortion whilst Carrie's mother Beryl, long estranged from Bill following an affair, points Vera towards former bad boy Terry Manttan, whom Carrie often visited in jail. When Terry is also murdered it becomes apparent to Vera that the killer is somebody who had something to hide in 1985 that Carrie exposed and that they are still prepared to kill to keep their secret.
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Farmer Danny Pryor discovers the corpse of young Jack Reeves in his slurry tank. Danny employs Kosovans, one of whom has also recently died in suspicious circumstances but Vera discovers that Jack was a traveller, who had left his camp after a row with his parents. The travellers had been in a land dispute with Danny, whose publican brother had also barred Jack after a fight and, to complicate matters, Jack had broken off his engagement to another traveller, Sigourney - much to her father's anger - because he was gay. Vera locates Jack's camper van, containing a wad of notes, suggesting he was involved in something illegal, possibly with the Kosovans. However it is Danny's little boy, the profoundly deaf Toby, who gives Vera the means to solve the case.
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Dock worker Owen Thorne falls to his death from the top of a multi-storey car park. His family, including adopted daughter Lila, adored him but he was disliked in the community after apparently causing an accident which killed a young co-worker. The boy's father Mick McKittrick rang Owen the night he died and Lila's criminal father Logan also fought with him. Vera learns that he was in frequent touch with Hannah, a young runaway, though solely as a platonic helper, but then it transpires that they actually had a very different relationship and another person in that relationship could well be Owen's killer.
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When Anne-Marie Richards is found dead on the moors, shoe-less, Vera deduces that she was killed at home and the body dumped. Although her daughters and doctor claim that she had no love interest pathologist Marcus notes that there had been recent sexual activity, leading Vera to Chinese restaurateur Huang, though he was only interested in buying Anne-Marie's house. Vera discovers that the victim was a frequent visitor to a seaside guest house where she entertained gentleman friends met whilst working as a barmaid, as well as acting as a drug dealer for one of her daughters. An examination of the family provides Vera with the identity of the killer though the investigation is marked by an attack on one of Vera's team.
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When young Jamie Thorne's corpse is found wrapped in bin bags in a cave Vera establishes that he had recently worked for funfair owners Morven and Bobby Pevensey and had a poor relationship with stepfather Philip Marsh - to his mother Grace's dismay - so that he had been to stay with vicar George Haleford and his family. Jamie had rung Grace before he died to ask for help but she had ignored him and Vera finds a link between Jamie and the Halefords' delinquent son Brendan, who also argued with his father and whose crucifix was found near the body. In addition to solving Jamie's murder Vera has the added task of attending a funeral for a colleague.
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After student Alex Gartside is run over and killed Vera learns she was house-sitting for an elderly couple on holiday but on entering the house she discovers the corpse of a young man. Initially nobody can identify him, including Alex's mother Vanessa and neighbours Brian and Lorraine Hallam, or guess why Alex had moth traps in the garden. The mystery man is identified as solitary ex-offender Martin Neilson, who volunteered for a charity to help former prisoners and where blackmail was involved. There is also the matter of a love triangle involving Alex, Brian's daughter barmaid Lizzie and her boyfriend Jason whose van was seen near where Alex was killed. In wrapping up the case Vera discovers events involving some of the suspects which date back for some ten years earlier.
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Former trawler-man Tommy Stonnall's corpse is pulled from the sea six weeks after his sons reported him missing. He was depressed following his wife's death, huge debts and an accusation - never proved - by unpopular siblings Ellie and Jay Connock that he burned down their fish market, killing their father. Vera however discounts suicide when she finds an abandoned van stained by Tommy's blood, leading her to a lodgings house where he stayed for the missing weeks and where she finds contraband cigarettes. She also uncovers a more sinister smuggling racket in which Tommy was involved, along with a secret liaison and an explanation for the arson attack, not to mention an argument gone wrong, all of which help her to discover who killed Tommy.
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Gemma Wyatt, a wildlife ranger, is found dead off the coast of the bird sanctuary where she spent the night alone whilst colleagues celebrated her boss Sophia's leaving do on shore. Estranged sister Alice accuses Gemma's boatman boyfriend Ryan of trying to force her to sell the family farm but he claims it was for Alice's own good. Vera establishes that Gemma was killed before the others left for the mainland, making them all suspects, and also locates a couple who blame Gemma for their son's death on the island some years earlier. Then Alice hits Vera with a surprise revelation, leading to evidence of Gemma's infidelity and involvement in a blackmail plot before the killer is revealed.
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Young drug addict Nathan Weaver is found murdered, in a rural river and Vera wonders why he had not sold a valuable ring found on his body to finance his habit. He had briefly worked at Brian Bennick's food factory and fathered a child by Kelly, another addict he met at Father O'Brien's needle exchange. On the night he died he had been dossing at a deserted farmhouse where, several years earlier Eddie Thurston was arrested for murdering his wife and a suspect in the case, Jeb Branning just happened to find the body. There are several other links between the night of Mrs Thurston's death and the present that will ultimately assist Vera in solving both murders and the mystery of the ring.
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Journalism student Jamie Marshall falls to his death from the roof of a derelict college building after posting an angry online rant about extortionate tuition fees and suicide is suspected. But Vera learns that somebody had assaulted him days before his death and his friend Lucy recalls hearing him argue with an older man. Furthermore he was hoping to sell a story that would "ruffle feathers" to a local newspaper. Children's entertainer Ian Holland, who bears a bitter grudge against Jamie's long-estranged father, enters the frame but reticent fellow student Rory Marston and his glib lawyer father Alan also have something to hide. Vera must establish whether Jamie's murder was an act of revenge or to prevent him from exposing a high profile fraud.
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The corpse of teen-aged Mia Hinkin is discovered six weeks after her disappearance from the remote farm-house where she lived with stern parents Mal and Nell. She was last seen at a rock concert where she was perceived arguing with an older man, possibly stable owner Gary Tovey, for whom she occasionally worked. Eastern European casual pickers from an adjacent farm are also in the frame but everybody in the area agrees that she was desperate to leave her home and her locally unpopular parents. Vera suspects that somebody she met at the festival was helping her to escape to a happier, urban existence and holds the clue to her death but cannot dismiss the many neighbouring friends and ex-lover who were keen to help her move away from her miserable rural life, even the younger brother with whom she shared her confidences.
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The charred corpse of policeman Harry Fenton is discovered at an abattoir known for rule-bending, on the day of his retirement. Colleagues tell Vera he seemed distracted and he had lied to his wife Rita regarding his whereabouts. CCTV shows Naz Ahmed, a driver for Dale Acreman's haulage firm, delivering to the abattoir around the time of Harry's murder and Vera learns from Gareth Hennings, son of Harry's best friend Jesse, that Harry had been investigating Naz and other drivers for fraud and money laundering. Vera now believes that Harry was murdered to prevent him reporting the goings on at the haulage company but faces a barrage of lies before she can solve the case.
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Driving home from a funeral Faye Wakeland is run off the road and dies in hospital. Some years earlier she had accused her step-mother Susan of trying to kill her but Susan claims that Faye was a fantasist who hated and lied about her. Car firm owner Tony Everitt for whom Faye worked and Susan tell Vera she had been seeing a solicitor of dubious reputation but her secret lover is actually her adoring landlord Noel. Everybody Vera meets speaks glowingly of Faye but then she discovers something disturbing about Faye and the man whose funeral she attended, which may or may not lead to solving the murder.
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After Alison Glenn is found dead in her garden her prison officer husband husband Michael tells Vera she had fallen out with best friend Asha over Asha's son Sahil's obsession with her daughter Molly. Vera is surprised to learn that Alison had a father and brother from whom she had been estranged for over twenty years and never mentioned though she had recently encountered her brother Tom, a young man of limited intelligence dominated by his father and anxious to seek her out. Michael had also been involved in drug smuggling for imprisoned racketeer Brian Delaney. With several parties from the past and present with likely motives Vera must work out which was the murderer.
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The nude corpse of teenager Ethan Dewley is fished from a reservoir near the saw-mill where his father Sean, who reported him missing three days earlier, works. Adam Jannen, son of the aggressive mill owner, denies knowing Ethan but apparently was known for bullying him and Adam's mother Glenda was seemingly in an affair with Sean. When Adam's alibi is blown apart he is arrested but Vera finds out that Ethan was obsessed with art teacher Laura Halcombe, whose boyfriend Jim Briscoe had threatened him to leave her alone. In fact Ethan's interest in Laura was more sinister and when Vera sees his laptop it helps her get closer to solving the murder.
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Vera must get to the bottom of why a teenage boy is found murdered far away from his home in a coastal town.
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Cold River: A beauty empire is shaken to the ground when one of three sisters is found dead in the River Tyne. DCI Vera Stanthorpe investigates.
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The Seagull: DCI Vera Stanhope must find the connection between a skeleton discovered underneath the site of a notorious burnt-out nightclub and a present day murder.
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