Publisher's Synopsis
Who killed Old Pete? Ronald Rowntree lives a fairly mundane life. Not only does he manage The Jolly Jester Public House, he lives above it too. One morning, he is readying himself for another ordinary day when his assistant, Sam, interrupts his breakfast, ranting about a corpse he's just found in the saloon bar. A little put out by this unexpected turn of events, Ronald takes a look, but soon finds himself the chief suspect in a particularly gruesome murder. With the police seemingly convinced of his guilt, Ronald is forced to investigate the murder himself, and that is where the problems start. Faced with a crime that no one, apart from him, could have committed, or had reason to, let alone the opportunity, he struggles to make headway. He does, however, find out that all is not what it seems in the Village of Duckley. Certainly not Adam Gosling, the owner of The Jolly Jester, or his wife, Abby. Fred Arkwright of Arkwright's Chest Emporium is not to be trusted, and nor is Trudy Lane, landlady of The Dog and Duck. Drawn into the murky underworld of drink, drugs and lust-filled affairs, Ronald finds allies where he least expects them as he attempts to clear his name. Can he prove he is innocent of the murder at the Jolly Jester? Enjoy this laugh-out-loud dozy mystery as Ronald blunders from one crisis to the next.
