The Hanging in the Hotel — Simon Brett

For a gathering of the Pillars of Sussex -- an elitist, hard-drinking group of local businessmen Jude is recruited by the owner of a hotel to help keep the spirits flowing. But the next morning, she discovers that one spirit has flown away for good, when she finds a supposed initiate for Pillar membership hanging from the beam of a four-poster bed.

The police are quick to rule the death a suicide, but Jude knows that the Pillars -- and the hotel's owner -- both have something to hide. So she enlists a reluctant Carole to nurture her relationship with a flirtatious Pillar in the hope that they'll topple him over and uncover the truth...