WASN’T it you who used to work behind the bar at the Frog and Lettuce?” Susan Tallboys looked up. She’d been fastening the buttons of her overcoat, suppressing her dislike of its worn fabric and its m

Why was their new neighbour so rude? Harriet was determined to find out

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

THE bell above the door jingled as Freya screwed the top on a big glass jar. “Be right with you!” she called, efficiently using the wooden steps to reach the top shelf and stow the aniseed twists wher

NEW YEAR’S EVE ”Have you made any resolutions?” Sophie asked. Emma put her phone on speaker as she poured a cup of tea. No Champagne for her tonight. “No. Every year I resolve to exercise more and tak

DO you think Ellen would enjoy living here?” Scott asked his wife dubiously. “I don’t know. But we have to make the offer,” Hannah replied. Ellen, Scott’s older sister, was a sharp-tongued woman, quic