Chronicles of the Time — Penny Freedman

March 2020. Gina Gray returns to the Lake District to share COVID isolation with her oldest friend, Eve. They are joined by Gina's teenage granddaughter, Freda, who is finding her own home too crowded for comfort. Locked down in the countryside, Gina is not expecting murder or mystery, but life without drama and challenges doesn't suit her and knitting, baking and creativity with home-grown vegetables soon lose their appeal. Very soon she manages to find mysteries both at home and further afield. Why did Eve really invite her here? What is going on with the strange couple whose garden backs on to theirs? What has happened to the cat? Why is Freda being so secretive about her history project? Most importantly, who murdered a teenage girl on a riverbank in an upmarket London suburb, and how can Detective Superintendent David Scott possibly track down the killer without Gina's help? Told in three narrative voices – Gina's, Freda's and David Scott's – Chronicles of the Time explores these interlocking mysteries against a background of personal tensions and strained relationships in the strangest of times – the lockdown months.