Books by Bettine Manktelow

It's a bad day for David Richmond and his team at the hotel, Tony the barman, porter Sean, barmaid Tanya and ditzy waitress Lucy.

It is 1948 and Britain is still recovering from World War II. To "The White Cliffs", a Midlands boarding-house, comes a group of concert performers who are touring with a Summer Revue, and they are in for an eventful week. Mrs Murdoch, the landlady, hides her wartraumatized son Danny away in the house.

An amusingly chaotic day in the life of Alec Partridge, Manager of the Thurlow Playhouse. The director of an amateur production of Oklahoma demands real horses in the show; an Arts Council agent arrives to assess the theatre''s eligibility for a grant…|5 women, 3 men

Livia, a romantic short story writer, and her husband Stan, arrive at a country hotel for a "Murder Mystery" weekend. They are joined by Patsy and her husband Ashley, and Vi and Dorothy. Each receives an anonymous "Murder Mystery" game envelope. Someone has left extra notes for Patsy and Stan exposing Livia's and Ashley's illicit affair. Next, Shelley, the chambermaid, mysteriously disappears, and intrigue and suspicion deepens when one last uninvited guest arrives...6 women, 3 men

A theatre company on tour includes a star and her understudy who were both married to the same man. When the understudy takes the stage at a provincial theatre, the gun fires bullets instead of blanks and she is killed. Who was the intended victim? Who loaded the gun? Focus is on human motivation rather than police investigation in this theatre mystery.4 women, 2 men

A stage adaptation of Thomas Hardy's "Far From the Madding Crowd". Bathsheba Everdene, a young, spirited farm-owner, is beloved of three men: Gabriel Oak, a stoical shepherd, William Boldwood, a neighbouring farmer, and the dashing but irresponsible Captain Troy.

Teresa oversees a women's charity, smugly imagining that she dispenses invaluable advice to any with the temerity to walk through the door. So when dowdy, middle-aged Melanie turns up to volunteer, Teresa soon puts her straight. The arrival of patronizing Mrs Castle-Kettle, daughter of the charity's founder, ruffles even more feathers.

One set, two exits, one window. Living-cum-dining room. Poorly furnished.-4 women, 3 men