Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960. She takes great pride in her home, starching her lace curtains bright white, and she can tell if shes being shortchanged on turmeric before shes taken her first bite of a beef patty. A career in nursing has also left her afraid of nobody, whether an interfering priest or a local drug dealer, and shes an expert in deciphering other peoples secrets with just a glance.

Miss Hortense once used her skills to benefit the Pardner networka local group of Black investors that she helped found. Until, that is, she was unceremoniously ousted from its ranks, severing her ties to the majority of her friends and community. That was thirty years ago. Now, as a new millennium dawns, an unidentified man has been found dead in the home of one of the Pardner members, a Bible quote written on a note beside his body. Suddenly, Miss Hortense finds her long-buried past rushing back, bringing memories of the worst moment of her lifeand secrets behind an unsolved crime that has haunted her for decades.

It is finally time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her and the com-munity she loves pushed to their limits. The first novel from a bold, brilliant new voice, A Murder for Miss Hortense introduces a fear-less sleuth whom readers will never forget.

MEL PENNANTis a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She graduated in 2014 with an MA in Screenwriting from the London College of Communication. In 2013, she won the Brockley Jack Write Now 4 award with her play,No Rhyme, and was involved with the Tamasha Theatre Company–writing for the Barbican Box. Mel has written audio plays with Tamasha and the National Archives and, in 2018, she was awarded a place on the Hachette X Tamasha scheme for aspiring playwright novelists.

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publish Date: June 10, 2025
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• Type: Hardback
• EAN/UPC: 9780593701621
• Dimensions: 9.3 X 6.1 X 0.9 inches | 1.2 pounds
• BISAC Categories: Mystery, Thrillers & Crime, Mystery, Thrillers & Crime, Popular Fiction