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This page lists novels that feature the detective Inspector Stephen Ramsay.

A Lesson in Dying

Ann Cleeves

1990

"Who hanged the headmaster in the playground on the night of the school Hallowe'en Party? Almost everyone in Heppleburn either hated or feared the viper-tongued Harold Medburn. Inspector Ramsay is convinced it was the headmaster's enigmatic wife but Jack Robson, school governor and caretaker, is determined to prove her innocence. With the help of his restless enthusiastic daughter, Patty, Jack digs into the secrets of Heppleburn, and uncovers a cesspit - of lies, adultery, blackmail and madness."

Murder in My Backyard

Ann Cleeves

1991

"No one in Heppleburn has a bad word to say about Alice Parry …. But here she is, murdered in her own backyard on a bitter St. David's Eve. And when detective Stephen Ramsay starts asking questions in the village, a more ambiguous picture begins to emerge. Yes, old Mrs. Parry was loved by everyone, but sometimes her kindness had caused trouble. Yes, her two nephews were devoted to her, but they didn't really want her interfering in their rather complicated personal lives. Even among her neighbours, Alice Parry's helpfulness had sometimes misfired; and after her death, tension tight as a clenched fist grips the uneasy village. Meanwhile, the suspects keep rolling in, and Heppleburn's friendly neighbourhood killer continues his nasty piece of work."

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A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy

Ann Cleeves

1992

"For Dorothea Cassidy Thursdays were special. Every week she would look forward to the one day she could call her own, and would plan to visit people she wanted to see as a welcome respite from the routine duties that being a vicar's wife entailed. But one Thursday in June was to be more special than any other. It was the day that Dorothea Cassidy was strangled. As the small town of Otterbridge prepares for its summer carnival, Inspector Stephen Ramsay begins a painstaking reconstruction of Dorothea's last hours. He soon discovers that she had taken on a number of deserving cases - a sick and lonely old woman, a disturbed adolescent, a compulsive gambler, a single mother with a violent boyfriend and a child in care - and even her close family have their secrets to hide. All these people are daunted, in one way or another, by Dorothea's goodness. But which of them could have possibly wanted her dead? It is not until a second body is discovered that Ramsay starts to understand how Dorothea lived - and why she died."

Killjoy

Ann Cleeves

1993

"Gus Lynch is directing the Youth Theatre through a rehearsal. The cast is in place but the female lead, Gabriella Paston, is missing. Later that evening her body is discovered in the boot of Gus's car. Detective Inspector Stephen Ramsay and Sergeant Gordon Hunter are assigned to head the murder enquiry. Meanwhile violence is escalating on the Starling Farm Estate as police battle to contain the latest outbreak of joyriding. Is the death of Gabriella connected to the events at Starling Farm? When another death occurs, investigations suggest a possible link. Ramsay realises what could have provoked someone to kill . . . and kill again."

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The Healers

Ann Cleeves

1995

"News of the murder first came to Inspector Stephen Ramsay early on Monday morning. He was in a meeting, one of the endless meetings the Chief Superintendent regularly called, and the summons from Sergeant Gordon Hunter came as a relief. They found middle-aged farmer Ernie Bowles lying on his kitchen floor. He had been strangled, and was not a pretty sight. The gruesome discovery of his body had first been made by the beautiful Lily Jackman, a new-age traveller who was living with her boyfriend in a caravan on Bowles's land. Neither of them, however, had been close to the dead farmer, who had lived alone since the death of his mother and was, by all accounts, a rather unpleasant character. Inspector Ramsay fears that this case will not be simple. In his experience, most murders are straightforward: an explosion of family pressure, the loss of control in a fight. But Bowles seems to have kept himself to himself, and Ramsay feels that to solve the mystery of his death he will need all the help he can get."

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The Baby Snatcher

Ann Cleeves

1997

"When fifteen-year-old Marilyn Howe turns up alone and frightened on Inspector Ramsay's doorstep he has little choice but to invite her in. Marilyn and her mother, Kathleen, are a familiar sight around Heppleburn, a strangely inseparable couple. But Kathleen has unaccountably failed to return home that evening, and Marilyn is fearful for her mother's safety. Ramsay takes the young girl home, to the isolated coastal community known as the Headland. And in the Howes' dark and cluttered kitchen they find Kathleen safe and apparently well, though acting rather mysteriously. Six months later, Ramsay has more or less forgotten the strange incident, busy as he is on the trail of a local child abductor. Until he receives news that Mrs Howe has disappeared once more. And for the second time he is drawn into the strange relationships of the families living on the lonely Headland. Then a woman's body is washed up on the beach."

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