North Books in Hay-on-Wye will welcome debut crime writer Rev. Penny Stephens on Friday, September 5 for its next event.

Rev. Penny was a vicar in a village parish before working as a hospice chaplain in East London and Kent. She now takes services in the Diocese of Rochester, where she is an Honorary Canon of the Cathedral. 'Till Death Us Do Part' is her debut novel.

Penny will be in conversation with the bookshop’s own mistress of the crime section, Jo Farrell.

The evening will also mark the official opening of North Books’ new crime section.

"Baddies get their comeuppance and goodies prevail," Jo says. "In this uncertain world we live in, people find that reassuring."

Tickets are free but limited; email [email protected] or pop into the shop to reserve.

The book's synopsis reads: "Reverend Clare Brakespear is used to a challenge. With a young family to wrangle, a parish to manage and a particularly excitable Golden Retriever by her side, life is never dull.

"But when she attends a wedding where one of the guests is fatally stabbed with a cake knife, even Clare admits that she might have been given too much to handle this time.

"As the police investigate the murder, they zero-in on one woman as their prime suspect, who they believe had the motive, means and opportunity to commit the crime. The trouble is, Clare is convinced that they have the wrong person. She might not understand forensic testing and finger-tip searches, but if there’s one thing Clare does know, it’s people and the complexities of their emotional lives. So, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

"However, investigating a murder is no mean feat and Clare soon finds herself embroiled in a complex web of family secrets and deceptions. Is she in way over her head or can she find the real killer before an innocent woman is sent down?"