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The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
Joanna Cannon
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER‘Part whodunnit, part coming of age, this is a gripping debut about the secrets behind every door’ RACHEL JOYCE‘A very special book’ NATHAN FILER‘An utter delight’ SARAH WINMAN‘A delight’ PAULA HAWKINS‘A treasure chest of a novel’ JULIE COHEN‘One of the standout novels of the year’ HANNAH BECKERMAN‘I didn't want the book to end’ CARYS BRAY‘An excellent debut’ JAMES HANNAH‘Grace and Tilly are my new heroes’ KATE HAMER‘A wonderful debut’ JILL MANSELL‘A modern classic in the making’ SARAH HILARY‘A stunning debut’ KATIE FFORDE‘Phenomenal’ MIRANDA DICKINSONEngland,1976.Mrs Creasy is missing and The Avenue is alive with whispers. As the summer shimmers endlessly on, ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly decide to take matters into their own hands.And as the cul-de-sac starts giving up its secrets, the amateur detectives will find much more than they imagined…
THE TROUBLE WITH GOATS AND SHEEP
Joanna Cannon
Copyright (#u8ea5dd99-127b-5426-a45a-342cea658042)
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
The Borough Press
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Joanna Cannon asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Copyright © Joanna Cannon 2016
Lyrics from ‘Bye Bye Baby’ © Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe
Lyrics from ‘Knock Three Times’ © Irwin Levine, L. Russell Brown
Lyrics from ‘Crazy’ © Willie Nelson
Lyrics from ‘Save all your kisses for me’ © Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden, Martin Lee
Map by Micaela Alcaino © HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Cover illustration © Shutterstock.com (http://www.Shutterstock.com) 2016
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books
Ebook Edition © December 2016 ISBN: 9780008132187
Source ISBN: 9780008132170
Version: 2017-10-27
Dedication (#u8ea5dd99-127b-5426-a45a-342cea658042)
For Arthur and Janice
Table of Contents
Cover (#u731faa4d-80fd-5fc7-aff7-57cf02062ec1)
Title Page (#u82cb114b-e676-50ed-b0db-9beaee4ca82b)
Copyright (#ue30f690f-d4f8-5b92-b74d-5b3fc2bf63ae)
Dedication (#u3996ad91-f03c-5614-90e0-e73b3078a65e)
Map (#u56cd641b-07e8-5cc8-9633-d66d8aeef0f9)
Number Four, The Avenue (#u39980863-3b28-5f24-960c-ab8f4b24ecce)
St Anthony’s (#ubd700cd4-deab-5c17-8f66-3e3defa49427)
Number Four, The Avenue (#ub2b732f0-8b81-5f89-8a5f-5ea535633c28)
Number Six, The Avenue (#u43923535-a705-598e-9ff6-2f9b69be5bdb)
Number Three, Rowan Tree Croft (#u0bebb133-a1af-5ebc-af8f-b7609e515f2c)
Number Four, The Avenue (#u15f77bd4-d213-5a57-b9f5-63216ef0f2a3)
Number Six, The Avenue (#u469fc12c-fd15-56cb-a2c9-240d8aa5693d)
Number Two, The Avenue (#u08647edb-b341-5956-ae1c-2e4adb3455a8)
The Royal British Legion (#u84295ebb-7223-512a-a4a2-031912e35489)
Number Four, The Avenue (#u6b6145de-7052-5e39-80cd-5c478672d717)
Number Eight, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Two, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Twelve, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Ten, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Three, Rowan Tree Croft (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Eleven, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Twelve, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Eleven, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Twelve, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Six, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Ten, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Fourteen, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
The Drainpipe (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Two, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
The Drainpipe (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Eight, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
The Drainpipe (#litres_trial_promo)
The Drainpipe (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Three, Rowan Tree Croft (#litres_trial_promo)
The Drainpipe (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Ten, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
The Drainpipe (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
The Drainpipe (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Twelve, The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Three, Rowan Tree Croft (#litres_trial_promo)
The Drainpipe (#litres_trial_promo)
The Avenue (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgments (#litres_trial_promo)
Keep Reading … (#litres_trial_promo)
If you enjoyed this book, read on for an exclusive excerpt from Joanna Cannon’s new novel Three Things About Elsie (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Number Four, The Avenue (#u8ea5dd99-127b-5426-a45a-342cea658042)
21June1976
Mrs Creasy disappeared on a Monday.
I know it was a Monday, because it was the day the dustbin men came, and the avenue was filled with a smell of scraped plates.
‘What’s he up to?’ My father nodded at the lace in the kitchen window. Mr Creasy was wandering the pavement in his shirtsleeves. Every few minutes, he stopped wandering and stood quite still, peering around his Hillman Hunter and leaning into the air as though he were listening.
‘He’s lost his wife.’ I took another slice of toast, because everyone was distracted. ‘Although she’s probably just finally buggered off.’
‘Grace Elizabeth!’ My mother turned from the stove so quickly, flecks of porridge turned with her and escaped on to the floor.
‘I’m only quoting Mr Forbes,’ I said, ‘Margaret Creasy never came home last night. Perhaps she’s finally buggered off.’
We all watched Mr Creasy. He stared into people’s gardens, as though Mrs Creasy might be camping out in someone else’s herbaceous border.
My father lost interest and spoke into his newspaper. ‘Do you listen in on all our neighbours?’ he said.
‘Mr Forbes was in his garden, talking to his wife. My window was open. It was accidental listening, which is allowed.’ I spoke to my father, but addressed Harold Wilson and his pipe, who stared back at me from the front page.
‘He won’t find a woman wandering up and down the avenue,’ my father said, ‘although he might have more luck if he tried at number twelve.’
