Pie in the Sky

There’s a prowler stalking the Middleton area, stealing women’s underwear from washing lines and making obscene phone calls, even to Margaret! All the evidence points to Hugh Downing, the attractive cheese merchant who supplies Pie in the Sky, but Crabbe can’t believe that someone with such a good line in Stilton could be the culprit.

A customer drops dead in the men’s room at Pie in the Sky, but by the time emergency services arrive the body is gone! When Crabbe locates the victim’s car--and trunk full of cash--he finds himself in the world of forgery, undercover police work, and mistaken identity.

While his wife is away, Assistant Chief Constable Fisher’s teenage daughter dyes her hair magenta, joins a group of travelers, and ends up squatting in Henderson’s field. Fisher wants Crabbe to bring her back home, but can Crabbe help the two reconcile instead?

Bill Pritchard, who supplies Pie in the Sky with the best trout in the county, has a new fiancee--much to Margaret’s disapproval. But when Jean goes missing right after Bill accepts a lucrative offer from chain fishery, the police suspect foul play before a body even turns up--and Bill is the prime suspect.

Psychic Medium Faith Revelle is receiving threatening letters, and her history of helping police in the past earns her some protection. A skeptical Crabbe has to act as her minder as he tries to determine whether Faith is sending herself threats to drum up publicity or if the hate mail is connected with the suspicious death of a local girl--and whether Revelle really has had a vision.

After signing over power of attorney to her nephew, retired and cantankerous food writer Hilary Smallwood is worried that he isn’t satisfied with simply selling her cottage and putting her in a home--she fears he is after her allegedly spicy memoirs too. Crabbe steps in to help, alongside bohemian pig-farmer Seymour Flint--connoisseur of the perfect black pudding, and Hilary’s former flame.

Assistant Chief Constable Fisher drags Crabbe down to the West Country, ostensibly to investigate a series of murders. As the latest victim is a policewoman, the murder squad itself comes under scrutiny and only one local detective offers any assistance. Back at Pie in the Sky, a burst pipe causes chaos in the kitchen.

The man who shot PC Lefebvre and put him in a wheelchair is being paroled so Fisher wants to keep Lefebvre busy. What better than to send him off with Crabbe in search of the Coverly sisters, two elderly con-women who always leave their victims the perfect bread and butter pudding? The task is simple: distract Lefebvre, stop the con-women, and uncover their wonderful recipe!

There’s a spate of burglaries, and while the local police station is closed down the great and the good of Middleton, headed by “Mr. Chukky Chicken” Barry Wilkes, want Crabbe to catch the thief. Though the popular theory is that the culprit is local bad boy Karl Elves or “Pikey,” Crabbe is much more interested in who might be giving the teenager help on the side.

Crabbe must join Assistant Chief Constable Fisher and DS Cambridge for a management development seminar, but Fisher is having a crisis of confidence and considers quitting the force. Can Crabbe use this information to his advantage? After a rave review form a discerning critic, Pie in the Sky has customers queuing at the door, and Crabbe could use more time to concentrate on cooking.