I’m the same age as my mum and dad were when our family moved in next door to Mrs. Dolan. They seemed old to me back then, but I know now that they weren’t. They were a young couple at the beginning o

S ian had been home for an hour and growing more irate by the minute when her phone rang. “Have you met your neighbour yet?” asked her friend, Abby, cheerily. “No, I have not!” “No? Didn’t the estate

Julie stared out of the window at her garden, mostly bare branches with only a few spots of colour in the deep red of the dogwood and silver cineraria. She sighed – it was that unsettling period after

The house next door had stood empty for many months and the weeds in the overgrown garden were spreading into my flower borders, becoming a nuisance. I’d taken early retirement when Jack became too il

DAWN FRENCH reveals why her latest character feels that dishonesty is the best policy…

I WOKE up after a vivid dream of Eleanor. I’d had quite a few recently. Eleanor was my half-sister. She was older than me – the daughter of Dad’s first wife, Dorrie. My mum only found out he had a fir