Faithful unto Death

'Simply the best detective writer since Agatha Christie' The Sunday Times Discover the novels that inspired the hit ITV series Midsomer Murders , seen and loved by millions. The compelling fifth novel in the Midsomer Murders series by Caroline Graham, starring Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby. Features an exclusive foreword by John Nettles. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Ann Granger and James Runcie's The Grantchester Mysteries . The Fawcett Green bell-ringers don't bat an eyelid when Simone Hollingsworth fails to turn up to practice. They merely assume that bell-ringing has become the latest in a long list of her abandoned hobbies. But then the increasingly strange behaviour of Simone's husband, Alan, begins to raise neighbourly suspicions about her whereabouts. And when the discovery of a body draws Chief Inspector Barnaby to the village, it becomes clear that unravelling the couple's tangled lives will have painful repercussions for the whole village. . . Praise for Caroline Graham's novels: 'Everyone gets what they deserve in this high-class mystery' Sunday Telegraph 'A witty, well-plotted, absolute joy of a book' Yorkshire Post 'A treat . . . haunting stuff' Woman's Realm 'Swift, tense and highly alarming' TLS 'Lots of excellent character sketches . . . and the dialogue is lively and convincing' Independent 'Hard to praise highly enough' The Sunday Times 'Her books are not just great whodunits but great novels in their own right' Julie Burchill 'Enlivened by a very sardonic wit and turn of phrase, the narrative drive never falters' Birmingham Post 'Read her and you'll be astonished . . . very sexy, very hip and very funny' Scotsman

'Simply the best detective writer since Agatha Christie' The Sunday Times Discover the novels that inspired the hit ITV series Midsomer Murders , seen and loved by millions. The compelling fifth novel in the Midsomer Murders series by Caroline Graham, starring Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby. Features an exclusive foreword by John Nettles. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Ann Granger and James Runcie's The Grantchester Mysteries . The Fawcett Green bell-ringers don't bat an eyelid when Simone Hollingsworth fails to turn up to practice. They merely assume that bell-ringing has become the latest in a long list of her abandoned hobbies. But then the increasingly strange behaviour of Simone's husband, Alan, begins to raise neighbourly suspicions about her whereabouts. And when the discovery of a body draws Chief Inspector Barnaby to the village, it becomes clear that unravelling the couple's tangled lives will have painful repercussions for the whole village. . . Praise for Caroline Graham's novels: 'Everyone gets what they deserve in this high-class mystery' Sunday Telegraph 'A witty, well-plotted, absolute joy of a book' Yorkshire Post 'A treat . . . haunting stuff' Woman's Realm 'Swift, tense and highly alarming' TLS 'Lots of excellent character sketches . . . and the dialogue is lively and convincing' Independent 'Hard to praise highly enough' The Sunday Times 'Her books are not just great whodunits but great novels in their own right' Julie Burchill 'Enlivened by a very sardonic wit and turn of phrase, the narrative drive never falters' Birmingham Post 'Read her and you'll be astonished . . . very sexy, very hip and very funny' Scotsman

The remarkable stories of beloved pets – from the famous and unusual to the everyday – memorialized at burial sites around the world, accompanied by a rich selection of archival photos and the author’s evocative images of their final resting places. When a little dog named Cherry died in 1881, his owners arranged for a grave in a nearby gatekeeper’s garden in London. At this time, the idea that a pet, even one that had lived as a family member, might be given a dignified burial was considered comical. But when other pet owners, likewise determined to memorialize their companion animals, followed suit, the world’s first urban pet cemetery was born. More soon followed across Europe, the United States, and then the rest of the world, resulting in a revolution in the way we consider animals. Faithful unto Death tells the stories of people who gave their hearts to a disparate variety of species, yet were all united in one common belief: that the reward at death for a faithful animal companion should reflect the love it offered during life. Losing a pet has always been a unique kind of pain. No set rituals exist to help provide closure when pets die, there are no readily shared passages from spiritual texts, no community of compassion to surround the mourner and help alleviate grief. And there is a sense of taboo, that it is somehow socially incorrect to mourn an animal as one would a person and feel the pain so intensely. Faithful unto Death confronts this taboo by telling the stories of people who have memorialized their beloved animals. The book addresses the moral and spiritual prejudices that have historically surrounded animals, and reveals how, in the face of these prejudices, a movement started in the nineteenth century to treat pets with dignity even in death. It is a fight that is still far from over, but the triumphs that are revealed as the book unfolds, found in burial grounds small to grand and on monuments humble to huge, possess the power to touch everyone who has ever cared for an animal companion. In tracing the historical evolution of pet cemeteries through the stories of the people and pets that have been integral to their development, this book reveals both similarities in the way we mourn animal companions and a stunning cultural diversity. From humble Cherry in London to pets of the rich and powerful, this is a history filled with inspiration, wild eccentricity and eternal love.

When a little dog named Cherry died in 1881, his owners arranged for a grave in a nearby gatekeeper's garden in London. At this time, the idea that a pet, even one that had lived as a family member, might be given a dignified burial was considered comical. But when other pet owners--likewise determined to memorialize their companion animals--followed suit, the world's first urban pet cemetery was born. More soon followed across Europe, the United States, and then the rest of the world, resulting in a revolution in the way we consider animals. Faithful unto Death tells the stories of people who gave their hearts to a disparate variety of species, yet were all united in one common belief: that the reward at death for a faithful animal companion should reflect the love it offered during life. Losing a pet has always been a unique kind of pain. No set rituals exist to help provide closure when pets die, there are no readily shared passages from spiritual texts, no community of compassion to surround the mourner and help alleviate grief. And there is a sense of taboo, that it is somehow socially incorrect to mourn an animal as one would a person and feel the pain so intensely. Faithful unto Death confronts this taboo by telling the stories of people who have memorialized their beloved animals. The book addresses the moral and spiritual prejudices that have historically surrounded animals, and reveals how, in the face of these prejudices, a movement started in the nineteenth century to treat pets with dignity even in death. It is a fight that is still far from over, but the triumphs that are revealed as the book unfolds, found in burial grounds small to grand and on monuments humble to huge, possess the power to touch everyone who has ever cared for an animal companion. In tracing the historical evolution of pet cemeteries through the stories of the people and pets that have been integral to their development, this book reveals both similarities in the way we mourn animal companions and a stunning cultural diversity. From humble Cherry in London to pets of the rich and powerful, this is a history filled with inspiration, wild eccentricity, and eternal love.