'Animal lovers will delight' Ann Granger

'A real treat . . . I loved it. Cats, dogs, murder and a credible and relatable heroine' Barbara Nadel

When Clarice Beech finds her friend Peter Ramsey dead in his kitchen, she believes he's succumbed to a fatal heart attack.

Peter, who lived in one of the five cottages on Magpie Row in the Lincolnshire Wolds, was a keen supporter of stray cats - which made him very unpopular with the neighbours. And after Chris Morris, an alcoholic neighbour, disrupts Peter's funeral, insisting Peter was murdered - and he knows who the murderer is - Clarice discovers there's no shortage of possible suspects among the Magpie Row inhabitants.

Who, behind Magpie Row's idyllic façade, might have had murder in mind? And, after his outburst at Peter's funeral, where is Chris? And is Clarice, with her mission to tend to Peter's strays, as well as uncover the truth about her friend's death, putting herself in danger's way?

Kate High is a graduate of the Faber Academy, as well as a contemporary artist, working in metals. She has exhibited internationally, with her work having been shown at the V&A, the Design Council, and also selling through outlets such as Liberty's and Chelsea Crafts Fair. Kate is a former voluntary branch administrator for the RSPCA and she co-founded a charity that aims to support older animals, Lincs-Ark.

The Cat and the Corpse in the Old Barn is her debut novel and the first mystery in the Clarice Beech series, which is set in the Lincolnshire Wolds.