Primrose Honeychurch doesn’t really “get” people. Books, though, make perfect sense. At 70, the sharp-tongued recluse prefers to keep company with her own routines. But when a life-altering diagnosis leaves her worried she’ll never be missed, she decides it’s finally time to do something to leave her mark. Clutching her mother’s ashes and the book of her heart, Primrose hops on a plane, bound for Hay-on-Wye, the legendary Welsh “Town of Books.” Unfortunately, her literary pilgrimage just won’t follow the plot. After an accident derails her trip, she finds herself staying a while with estranged family. But she senses a kindred spirit in the niece she’s getting to know, who uncannily understands the world much the same as Primrose herself does.

At 69 years old, Claire Reynolds is changing things up. She’s volunteering. She's learning to rollerblade. She’s rescued a shelter dog. And today, she’s killed a man. It wasn’t on her to-do list, but stuff happens. Besides, the man in question was strangling her good friend, Daphne, so what’s a gal to do? Scream, possibly. Call the cops. Or --- at retired officer Daphne’s insistence --- call in the rest of their senior gal pals, roll up the body in a blanket, and toss it off a cliff. The dead man is a member of the local crime family, and if the police get involved, it’s not just Daphne at risk, it’s all of them. But the body is just the start. Soon the Alphabet Girls --- Atsuko, Barbara, Claire and Daphne --- must transform into the Alphabet Sleuths if they’re to keep their liberty...and their lives.

1934, Dorset. Nothing gives postmistress Hester Smith greater joy than cycling through the idyllic village of Puddlington, delivering the mail to her neighbors. Bookish Hester has always felt privileged to witness the highs and lows a single letter can bring. But when war comes to Puddlington’s shores five years later, Hester suddenly finds herself in the devastating position of delivering news that no one should hear. As the community is directly impacted by tragedy on the battlefield and a shocking death occurs in the village, Hester’s spirit and resolve are tested like never before. Can she and her fellow Puddlington women, including the vicar’s wife and the bohemian lady of the manor, find the courage to face their darkest times and come through a storm that will change their lives forever?