The Afternoon Tea Murders - Helena Dixon (Paperback) 29-04-2026

London, 1942. Miss Jane Treen is at her desk in Whitehall sipping a strong coffee when she receives an urgent message about her colleague, codebreaker Arthur Cilento. He’s in danger in Devon, and Jane needs to get there sharpish. But before her bags are properly unpacked, the local teashop owner in Arthur’s village is found lying amidst the scones and teacakes… and she’s dead. When Jane arrives, it quickly becomes clear that the murder is a half-baked attempt to curdle Arthur’s current codebreaking mission – but how? There seem to be suspects at every turn. Is Arthur’s boss be going to extremes to cover up his incompetence? Can the teashop customers be trusted? And what about the secretary, who seems to have secret links to the village teashop… Spurred on by scones and clotted cream, Jane and Arthur start to whip up a theory as to who the killer could be. But just they begin to make progress, someone else is murdered – and it looks like Arthur could be next. It’s clear they need to solve this case quickly, before teatime is over and Arthur meets a sticky end…