"Potting shed murder" by Paula Sutton

An audio book. Cozy.

Prologue: James and Daphne are in a car in London, battling over parking spaces when they see a balaclava'd man with a shotgun.

James are Daphne moved 10 months ago from London to Pudding Corner, a village near Kings Lynn. Their kids Archie, Finn and Immie, went to fee-paying schools. They're struggling financially. They live in Cranberry Farmhouse. Dr Oakes is their closest neighbour - he gives them home-grown veg and knows the local lore. Centuries ago, Matthew Hopkins, witch-finder general, roamed the area. Daphne's about the only black in the area, but that's not a problem. The locals don't like second-home owners and travellers. They're suspicious of Minerva who lives in the woods with a few others. Her son Silvanus is avoided by the other kids. Daphne has sympathy for them.

Sisters Nancy and Patsy Warburton run the local shop.

Maryanne is a friend of Daphne. She's also from London and is strapped for cash. She wants her child to get a scholarship, but Charles, the head of the local junior school, dislikes her, so won't give a good reference. He has an allotment. His younger wife Augusta misses intimacy.

Silvanus looks rather like the headmaster. The headmaster's found dead in the allotment having told his wife something. Someone wearing a yellow-lined coat was seen with him in the allotment. A will is found, giving money to Minerva. Minerva and Silvanus disappear.

Minerva returns, revealing that she's Charles' daughter. She's known since Silvanus started school. Charles learnt more recently. Minerva's mother and Charles were together before he married. He died of a drug-induced heart attack - perhaps a natural drug that Minerva and her friends know about?

We learn that Patsy and Charles were childhood friends who played with commune friends. Nancy seemed to like Charles too, but actually she loved Serafina, a commune girl. Charles got Clover, another commune girl, pregnant. She didn't want to tie brilliant Charles down.

Daphne goes to Dr Oates house. She knows that he's an expert in poisonous plants. She sees a photo and realises that he went to Medical School with Augusta. He doesn't let her leave. He says that Augusta was top of the class - a catch. When he brought her to the village she saw Charles' lack of interest as a challenge, seduced him, said she was pregnant and married him, Dr Oates as best man. She gave up her career, carrying on with Dr Oates.

Witnesses' assumptions confused their notions about what happened on the night of the murder (for instance, people thought Charles and Minerva were having an affair). We learn that Dr Oates killed Charles, thinking that was what Augusta wanted. He tries to kill Daphne, but her London self-defence lessons prove useful.

Augusta's the least believable person, but the book chugs along well enough. Eyes can show "sadness, shame, and regret". A woman can cry "miserably to herself" and think to herself.