Midwinter Murder: The Third Pikesmere Mystery

by Michael Ashley

Detective Chief Inspector Harry Bailey and his partner, Carol Wainwright, are expecting their first child and they are both looking forward to a quiet first Christmas together in Pikesmere. Fate, however, has other plans for the couple. A Boxing Day invite to Pikestaff Hall, the old, Elizabethan manor house on the edge of the town, leads to them having to call upon all their resources when they are faced with a murder in the grounds. As the snows deepen, Harry and Carol must deal with a Christmas mystery and a country house filled with an assortment of eclectic characters, any one of whom could be a killer. This, the third in the Pikesmere Mystery series, reintroduces several familiar faces from the earlier novels as well as a whole host of new suspects and would be a brilliant whodunnit to read on a cold winter's evening!

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2025

About the author

A former Disney screenwriter and professional speaker, Michael Ashley is the author of over twenty-five books on numerous subjects, including four bestsellers. Michael serves as a columnist with Forbes, Entrepreneur and Green Entrepreneur. Prior to starting his own creative content agency, he began his career as a playwright and a newspaper reporter. A former screenwriting professor at Chapman University, he has been featured in KTLA, Entertainment Weekly, The National Examiner, the United Nations’ ITU News, The Orange County Business Journal, Fox Sports Radio, and The Orange County Register. The co-host of Changing the Story Podcast and United Nations’ Artistic Intelligence series, Michael serves as a story consultant for companies on how to best convey their messaging.