Man Who Vanished and the Dog Who Waited
font size="+1">'Animal lovers will delight' Ann Granger
'A real treat . . . I loved it. Cats, dogs, murder and a credible and relatable heroine' Barbara Nadel
Summer in the Lincolnshire Wolds and Clarice is rung by her friend Louise, asking whether she can look after Susie, her son's lively Boxer, as 41-year-old Guy has gone missing from the family home.
His mother thinks he has been suffering from depression but more worryingly, in his professional life, he had been working on a high-profile case, defending a known criminal. His home life was beset with problems too, which is why his mother has asked Clarice to look after the dog; Charlotte, Guy's wife, just can't cope with her as well as their three daughters.
Getting drawn into the puzzle of Guy's disappearance, Clarice wonders how Susie received a nasty cut to her back leg, and who is the mysterious Charles? Guy apparently did not trust him enough to let him into his home, and he had not been seen since he was driven away in Charles car. Guy's friends all say that he was a good, honest man, but as Clarice looks further into the murky criminal world he inhabits, she questions if Guy has been pulled in out of his depth. And - why does Susie keep returning to the private woods, where she had spent so much time with her beloved master....
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.