“They say one should never trust a thin chef. By this measure, Chef Maurice was very trustworthy indeed.”   Take one sleepy Cotswold village, mix in one Poirot-esque murder mystery, add a larger-than-life French chef with an appetite for solving crime, and season with clues and red herrings galore . . .   It’s autumn in the Cotswolds, and Chef Maurice is facing a problem of mushrooming proportion. Not only has his ...

When 74-year-old Lise Fredette disappeared in November 2014, the only traces found were a house key, her glasses, an earring and some blood in the driveway of her home in Peterborough, Ontario. Shortly after, Andy Watson, an ex-boyfriend, was arrested and charged with her murder and jailed as an untried prisoner for two-and-a-half years. Despite the absence of a body, Watson was convicted and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment. He continues to protest his innocence. His letters from priso...

Convicted of first-degree murder despite the absence of a body, Andy Watson could spend the rest of his life in prison. The harsh conditions in which he was held while awaiting trial were described in Rough Justice in Ontario, written by Watson’s lifelong friend Jimmy Lang.Now in poor health, 83-year-old Watson maintains his innocence, but has become resigned to his fate. After The Trial highlights the flaws in the Canadian justice and penal systems that have left a frail old man p...

In the rarefied world of wine collecting, murder isn’t exactly a barrel of laughs… ------ An invitation to dinner at the home of renowned wine collector Sir William Burton-Trent soon finds Chef Maurice in the middle of an all-too-real murder mystery party, when Sir William is found dead in his own wine cellar. The guests are acting all innocent, but which one is only playing the part? The pushy Californian film director? The seductive Frenc...

They say all’s Fayre in love and baking...Spring has sprung, the bunting is up, and for the residents of the little Cotswold village of Beakley, this can only mean one thing: it’s time for the Beakley Spring Fayre.Drawing the crowds this year is stiletto-strutting celebrity chef Miranda Matthews, a woman for whom making enemies is a piece of (shop-bought) cake. And one of them is lurking around the Fayre, ready to make sure Miranda hangs up her apr...